MAKING HIS WAY through the Golden State Warriors locker room following a preseason win over the Los Angeles Lakers, Zaza Pachulia heard the familiar sound of a ball bouncing on the organization’s practice floor.
Pachulia assumed one of the Warriors’ young players was getting some extra shots in. What the longtime NBA big man and Warriors consultant saw next surprised him.
He found Klay Thompson, dressed in a full uniform, shooting by himself. The 31-year-old has been away from the game for over two years while rehabbing a pair of career-altering injuries. He tore the ACL in his left knee in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals and his right Achilles in November 2020.
“That’s a day when he already had a workout,” Pachulia said. “He already got his rehab, workout, whatever he’s doing and he did it. So he was getting extra shots up. It was telling, that moment; [you] understood how much this guy cares, how much this guy misses playing basketball.”
Pachulia, dressed in a full suit, ended up rebounding for his close friend that night on the practice floor. Like so many others in the organization, he has tried to provide any emotional support he can, while also preparing Thompson for his basketball return.
A month later, Thompson, dressed in a No. 77 Jackie Moon jersey — the number is a nod to his perceived snub from the NBA’s 75th anniversary team, and the headband and jersey to the character Will Ferrell portrayed in the 2008 comedy “Semi-Pro” — has just finished the type of personal workout that has become part of his routine throughout the arduous rehab cycle.
As much as he has tried to push away the frustration from not being voted to the 75th anniversary team, the snub bothers him because of what he has accomplished as one of the game’s best shooters, and because of the titles he helped his team win.
After the rest of his…
Source : espn
