Injury problems have plagued Klay Thompson in recent years and while the Golden State Warriors star is back on the court, he is not fully in the clear just yet.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr revealed to reporters on Friday that the team are still having to be careful with Thompson. He even went as far as to say they may have to manage his playing load for the entirety of this season which has only just begun.
“Klay may not play back-to-back all year,” Kerr said, per ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
“He didn’t last year because of two straight season-ending injuries.”
Warriors’ run
The Warriors are currently scheduled to play in 13 lots of back-to-back games. This means that if Thompson cannot play on consecutive nights all season then he will miss at least 13 games on that basis alone.
The 32-year-old guard did not play in any back-to-backs last season and will likely be rested for other games as well throughout this season.
These injury troubles began during the 2019 Finals when Thompson suffered an ACL tear which saw him miss the entire 2019/20 season. Then, in pre-season in November 2020 he tore his Achilles, which ruled him out for the 2020/21 season as well.
Eventually, he returned to the court in January this year, but played with a minutes restriction until March. After that, the team remained cautious, making sure to avoid playing him on both nights of a back-to-back.
Despite that, however, Thompson put up decent numbers last season, averaging 20.4 points per game in the regular season and 19ppg in the postseason. This season he is averaging 15ppg, but he did have a big night on Thursday, dropping 27 and making seven from seven from three-point range.
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