Thompson narrated his long recovery in NBC Sports’ HeadStrong series, and argued that the Achilles injury he sustained was much harder to accept than the first one he got in the championship series against Toronto Raptors since he prepared so hard to finally play again. “For me, when it happened, it was hard to digest for a few months,” Thompson said. “It was hard, man. I can’t even lie to you, it was really really hard. Especially the second time around. The first time, I accepted it. Championship game, five-straight finals, stuff happens. The second time was just so unexpected. It was a week before the season. I was training so hard for like a year, year and a half actually.