With just under 2 minutes and 30 seconds remaining in Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the Raptors, Warriors guard Klay Thompson injured his left knee.
Klay landed awkwardly on the left leg pic.twitter.com/h4rLSXy0Za— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) June 14, 2019
He started to make his way back to the Golden State locker room, but as you all remember ... the machine returned to the court.
"Somebody went out and grabbed us in the tunnel and said, 'If he doesn't shoot these free throws, he can't come back,' Warriors GM Bob Myers explained Thursday on 95.7 The Game. "And Klay didn't even wait for an answer. He just walked back on the court.
"And I grabbed him and I said, 'Listen, man. If you're gonna shoot these free throws...' -- because we didn't know what it was at that time, we had no idea, he hadn't been examined -- and I said, 'We don't know what this is, shoot the free throws, don't move. Just shoot the free throws and stay there.'
Sports
"[Klay said] 'OK, all right. I got it.' [He] shoots the free throws and starts running back (laughter). I said, 'What are you doing?' Maybe that's my own fault for trusting.
"But that's the competitor in the guy."
This was the exchange between Klay Thompson and Danny Green after Klay came back onto the floor to shoot the two free throws after already tearing his ACL pic.twitter.com/lMLeLVKZM0— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) June 17, 2019
Klay made the first free throw and started to run back on defense (with a limp) after making the second free throw (which gave him 30 points on the night).
Warriors big man DeMarcus Cousins committed a foul and Klay finally went to the locker room:
This is INSANE! Klay argued with a Warriors trainer and tried to stay in the game. He then jogged back to the locker room, thinking he would get examined and then return to the court. The guy had a torn ACL! pic.twitter.com/5PbNaEF6tD— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) June 17, 2019
The five-time All-Star left Oracle Arena during the fourth quarter to get an MRI, which confirmed a torn ACL.
[RELATED: Report: Nets the front-runners to sign KD in free agency]
It's possible that Klay misses all of next season, but Dubs forward Andre Iguodala doesn't think that will happen:
Andre Iguodala: "Klay will be back in February, I hope. He's a fast healer." pic.twitter.com/Epyju8iuz5— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) June 21, 2019
The soon-to-be unrestricted free agent is expected to undergo surgery in the near future, and then the road to recovery begins.
