SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson has always forged his own path away from the thundering crowds of San Francisco’s Chase Center or the tidal wave of chatter on social media.
On Wednesday night, Thompson will be a deciding factor in whether the Warriors will advance to the next round of the NBA playoffs for the first time since 2019.
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Ironically, it was in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Championship that Thompson tore his ACL, the first of two devastating injuries that sidelined him for more than 2 1/2 years.
And like his teammates, he admits, there will be a rush of excitement before tip-off against the Denver Nuggets.
“It’s amazing,” he told reporters. “I’m sure everyone in the lockerroom has dreamt of this moment. First close-out game ever at Chase Center. Incredibly exciting.”
Thompson has averaged 24.5 points and 50 percent shooting from the third-point line as Golden State rolled to a 3-1 advantage in the best-of-7 series. But he’s been through the playoff wars before, he’s a veteran, and knows for the Warriors to be successful they will need to cutdown on their turnovers and stop fouling.
In Denver’s 126-121 Game 4 win, Thompson found himself in foul trouble for much of the night and Golden State’s offense mired in mud.
“You think about what stoppage of play does to our offense, at times it can bog us down,” he said. “So you have to be mindful of playing with your hands back. The natural instinct at times is you want to reach, you want to make the steal, you want to make the defensive play, but even when the ball goes through the net we are incredibly effective getting the ball out in transition and getting great looks.”
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“So when you are defending, you have to be mindful of the whole game and not getting that steal.”
But after the basketball talk ended, the discussion took a zen-like turn.
“There is more to life than the internet and NBA Twitter,” he said of his time between games. “So you just got to realize that you can’t take work home with you all the time. Although there are days when it sucks and you lose and it’s in front of the world, but that’s why we get paid what we do.”
So how did he spend his Monday?
“I went swimming. It was such a nice day,” he said. “The sun was out and I went to brunch. I got a lot of positive comments at brunch. People were very excited around town which is a lot of fun…I watched some NBA playoffs too and ate a good meal for dinner. It was a good day.”
He also spent time on his boat out in the Bay.
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“You feel so present,” he said of being out on his boat. “It’s so quiet out there especially when you shut off the engines and it’s just the waves crashing or the wind blowing. It resets you. You feel so small in the universe.”
Source: sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com.