Klay Thompson's father, Mychal Thompson, has a bright outlook on his son's potential to return during the 2019-20 season. The Golden State Warriors shooting guard suffered a torn ACL in Game 6 of the NBA Finals, but did not undergo surgery until July 2, which would likely push his timeline to return until December or January, according to his father:
“He's walking normally and he's very optimistic and enthusiastic about getting back late next season,” said Mychal on the NBC Sports Bay Area Warriors Insider podcast, via Mike Moffitt of the San Francisco Chronicle.
That December to early January timeline would fall on the early side of the typical recovery period for an ACL surgery, which ranges from six-to-nine months:
“Modern medicine has advanced so much from 10, 15, 20 years ago, that guys come back from this injury and are normal.” said Mychal. “You can look at a bunch of players in the league now that have dedicated themselves to their rehab and come back, it's like nothing ever happened. Modern medicine is so good at repairing these athletes.”
Mychal used Zach LaVine as an example, an athletic shooting guard who suffered a torn ACL in his third year in the league, only to come back to have a career season in his fifth one with the Chicago Bulls.
Klay Thompson will take the careful approach in his recovery, following what the training staff and his doctors recommend, hoping to return to a long career ahead:
“I don't want to rush it because I want to play until I'm 38, 39, 40 years old,” Klay told ESPN last month. “That's my plan, especially with the way I can shoot the ball. I'd love to see the floor this season. Don't know when that is. I doubt it's before the All-Star break. But at some point, it will be a goal of mine.”
The Warriors will miss Thompson dearly, though the acquisition of D'Angelo Russell should help mitigate Klay's absence somewhat.
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