Warriors officially announce Klay Thompson will miss 2020-21 season with Achilles injury

Klay Thompson will officially be sidelined for back-to-back seasons with injury.

After the Golden State Warriors announced Klay Thompson suffered a leg injury at an offseason workout in Southern California, there was fear the five-time All-Star suffered a significant Achilles injury.

On Thursday, that fear became a reality. After Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thompson suffered an Achilles injury, the Warriors confirmed the report with an official announcement.

With a message on Twitter, the Golden State Warriors announced an MRI confirmed Thompson has suffered a torn Achilles in his right leg. Thompson’s season-ending injury happened at a workout in Southern California. 

Via @warriors on Twitter: 

After averaging 21.5 points on 46.7% shooting from the field with 3.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per contest during the 2018-19 season, Thompson suffered a significant injury. On a drive to the bucket in game six of the NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors, Thompson tore his ACL in his left knee in the third quarter of the contest.

Thompson’s ACL injury forced the shooting guard to miss all of Golden State’s 2019-20 run. With injuries to Thompson and Stephen Curry, Golden State’s streak of five consecutive trips to the NBA Finals ended in 2020. 

After an extended rehab, Thompson was expected to return to Golden State’s rotation at the start of the 2020 NBA season. Instead, the 30-year-old three-time champion will be sidelined for back-to-back seasons. 

With Thompson injured, the Warriors have reportedly been in “serious talks” with the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire Kelly Oubre Jr. Golden State could absorb Oubre’s salary with the traded player exception they received in the Andre Iguodala move with the Memphis Grizzlies from last offseason. 

As a member of the Phoenix Suns, Oubre averaged 18.7 points on 45.2% shooting from the field with 6.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the 2019-20 season.