Sunday was a long time coming for Klay Thompson, and for Draymond Green, there was no way he was missing it.
It had been 941 days since Klay Thompson left Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals with a torn ACL. An already-lengthy recovery turned worse when he suffered a ruptured Achilles during a November 2020 workout. But countless rehab sessions and workouts later, Sunday’s game between the Cavaliers and Warriors served as the long-awaited return for Thompson.
But if you want to get a sense of just how much Klay’s return meant to the rest of the Warriors, just look at how Green handled the start to the game.
Shortly before tipoff, the Warriors announced that Green had experienced calf tightness during warmups. Instead of missing the entire game, Green opted to start to be on the court with Thompson … then, he would sit for the rest of the game.
Draymond Green is not playing tonight (left calf tightness), but he still wanted to be on the floor with Klay for his return.
So Green was there for the opening tip and took a foul so he could check out of the game ❤️ pic.twitter.com/puAzOy3rxe
— ESPN (@espn) January 10, 2022
After the Cavaliers won the opening tip, Green hobbled over, took the foul and went to the bench. That was it for him — he just wanted to be there for his teammate.
And sure, it was a bit of an unnecessary symbolic gesture, but once you realize how Draymond has watched every step of Klay’s recovery, it makes more sense.
Klay's intro.
Chills ❄️ pic.twitter.com/rBuCz6T6bZ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 10, 2022
He wanted to support Thompson, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
