Klay Thompson unlikely to play this season, Steve Kerr says

Golden State star Klay Thompson will likely miss the entire 2019-20 season as he recovers after tearing his left anterior cruciate ligament during Game 6 of the NBA Finals in June, coach Steve Kerr said in a recent interview.

“It’s unlikely that he’s going to play this year,” Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area. “So we have to understand that.”

Thompson told The Times’ Arash Markazi in August that he hoped to return to the court at some point this season.

“That’s my goal,” Thompson said about a month after undergoing surgery to repair his ACL. “I doubt I’ll be back before the All-Star break, but I want to be back this season.”

But Kerr all but dashed any glimmer of hope Warriors fans may have gotten from those comments.

“You have to look at it realistically,” Kerr said. “I had an ACL in college, and I missed a whole season. Generally, an ACL for a basketball player is a full-year recovery, and if it’s a full year for Klay, that puts him out for the season.”