Warriors’ Klay Thompson hopes to be back in action at the beginning of next season

Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors hopes to return at the beginning of next season.

Thompson has missed last season due to a torn ACL suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals and last November he tore achilles tendon.

Per ESPN, “Absolutely,” said Thompson when asked about his return. “It could be a few weeks after, maybe a month after, but it’s definitely going to be geared toward the very beginning of the season.”

“[The Achilles injury] just happened on a true dribble, pull-up jump shot, a move I do 100 times a day,” Thompson said. “So, it was just an unfortunate series of events. Nothing I could have ever prepared for, nor prevented. I was working my butt off 10 months up to that point, and you just got to go back to the drawing board. I knew I did it right away, and it’s in the past, but I’m getting better every day.”

Thompson said the mental toll of the recovery has been difficult, but he believes he has many years of basketball left considering the nature of his game.
“It’s way harder than any basketball game I’ve ever had to play,” Thompson said. “Way harder than any conditioning drill or practice. The mental toll is not very fun. You always guess if you’re going to be the same player you once were, so you have those natural thoughts, but you can’t let those overtake you, and you got to realize that this is not unique just to me. So many athletes have been through this. Although I was used to playing 100 games a year for the first eight years of my career, this is just a new set of challenges; and with my style of play, I feel like could be effective ’til my late 30s, so I’m not going to feel sorry for myself right now.
“I’m just going to keep buckling down and keep doing what I love to do.”