One of the more pivotal factors in the course this NBA season ends up taking is when Klay Thompson is able to return to action for the Warriors, and at what percentage of his old self. If he can get back by the playoffs and function as roughly the same player we've seen in years past, the Warriors remain at least a fringe title contender in most people's eyes.
That's a blue-sky outlook, of course, and Steve Kerr has now officially doused that optimism with a bucket of cold water, telling NBC Sports Bay Area in an exclusive interview that Thompson is "unlikely" to return at any point this season.
"It's unlikely that he's going to play this year. So we have to understand that," Kerr said.
"You have to look at it realistically. I had an ACL [tear] in college, and I missed a whole season. Generally, an ACL for a basketball player is a full-year recovery, and if it's a full year for Klay, that puts them out for the season.
"We've kind of left the door open in case the rehab goes perfectly and the doctors say he can go. But the reality is, on April 1, that's the nine-month mark. ... April versus nine months post-op for an ACL."
This preemptive statement from Kerr has Kevin Durant written all over it, and it's smart. During last year's playoffs, the Warriors did Durant a huge PR disservice by continuously stating that he could be back any time, which put all the public pressure on Durant to get back on the court when he clearly wasn't healthy enough to do so. It would end up costing Durant a ruptured Achilles tendon, which, in the opinions of multiple orthopedic surgeons who spoke with CBS Sports, can pretty clearly be tied to Durant's original calf strain that wasn't allowed to fully heal.
The Warriors, and Durant, were clearly incentivized to push the limits of his recovery time. It was the NBA Finals. With Thompson, it's different. They just gave him a five-year, $190 max deal. They want to protect their long-term investment, and this season isn't likely to end in a championship for the Warriors regardless.
That said, Kerr's statement is a PR move. It doesn't mean Thompson won't be back this season. It means the Warriors realize they should've done Durant a similar PR favor and publicly stated that he was done for the playoffs, thus eliminating the expectation and accompanying pressure for him to return early. Then, if he did return, it would've been a pleasant surprise.
Same thing for Thompson. You say he's going to be out for the season, and then if he comes back, you have under-promised and over-delivered, rather than the other way around. The bottom line is there are plenty of NBA players who have returned to action after ACL surgery at around the 9-to-10-month mark. In fact, that timetable is pretty standard these days. It's been a long time, with a lot of medical advancements, since Kerr suffered his own ACL tear in college.
The bigger question, perhaps, is this: Is the idea that the Warriors are in no rush whatsoever to get Thompson back on the court an indication that they view this season as something of a lost cause anyway? Our Colin Ward-Henninger has been around the team all preseason, and his take on Kerr's consistent temperature in press conferences and the like is that he is, shall we say, pretty bearish on this Golden State club.
For argument's sake, if this is the case, it's ridiculous. No, the Warriors are not the team they've been in the past. Yes, their defense might be a total disaster and the D'Angelo Russell acquisition might blow up in their face. But let's be clear: The Warriors have the best offensive player and best defensive player in the league, arguably, in Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. Say what you want about Russell, but he is a third All-Star, if an Eastern Conference version. The Warriors have adequate size in Kevon Looney, Willie Cauley-Stein and now Marquese Chriss. They have at least a decent stable of wing players to fill in gaps until Thompson, potentially, returns.
This idea that this season is a wash for the Warriors needs to go. We did the same thing with LeBron James and the Lakers last season, basically looking at it as a transition year, no expectations of competing at any sort of meaningful level, and in effect what the Lakers did is they completely wasted 34-year-old LeBron's 16th season, as if he just has an infinite amount of prime years left.
Curry isn't getting any younger. Neither is Draymond. In all likelihood, neither player has more than four or five prime years, at most, left in the tank. For Draymond, it feels more like two or three years. You don't just so called cash one of those seasons in and prepare for the next one.
In other words, welcome to the real NBA, Warriors, who can no longer lean on the fact that they have multiple superstars and afford to not tax any one of them accordingly. The Nuggets have to ride Nikola Jokic. The Blazers have to ride Damian Lillard. The Bucks have to ride Giannis Antetokounmpo. They Rockets have to ride James Harden.
Well, the Warriors have Stephen Curry, and guess what? They have to ride him. They have to give him the ball and let him be a superstar and hope he can carry them long enough to get Thompson back. Kerr is saying we shouldn't expect that to happen, but that's what he SHOULD say to the public. That doesn't mean they shouldn't quietly be telling themselves something else.
