The Golden State Warriors have officially ruled shooting guard Klay Thompson out for the remainder of the season, per Marc Stein of the New York Times:
The Warriors have this week made it official and fully ruled out Klay Thompson (left knee) for the remainder of the season, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 21, 2020
Thompson has been making steady progress after suffering a torn left ACL during last year's NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors. However, much like Kevin Durant in Brooklyn, it was essentially a formality Thompson would not play this season.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr first hinted at the idea Thompson would not play all the way back at the beginning of the season. Kerr said that ACL's can take up to 12 months to fully heal and–given Thompson suffered the tear last June–the Warriors would not rush his recovery.
The idea of allowing Thompson the full 12-month period was essentially cinched given Golden State's poor start. But whereas Stephen Curry is still yearning to return to the floor sometime in March, the Dubs will take no such risks with Klay.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob said Tuesday there was a chance Thompson could return for a “few games” at the end of the season (via Mark Medina of USA TODAY):
“Klay might come back for a few games at the end. He might not,” Lacob said. “That doesn’t matter so much. Maybe we’ll err on the cautious side. Maybe. That’s up to him.”
But the Warriors will instead let Thompson prepare for the 2020-21 season when they hope a healthy roster–recently supplemented by the acquisition of Andrew Wiggins–can make another run at a championship.
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