After suffering the two worst injuries in basketball, Klay Thompson is an NBA champion once again. And despite winning the title on three other occasions, he can barely believe how good it feels this time around.
“I was feeling absolutely incredible,” he said of the postgame celebrations. “I was feeling just so high on life that I didn’t want to leave the stage.”
Thompson also spoke about how hard it was to get back on the court after his ACL and Achilles injuries, let alone getting back to playing at a championship level.
“In 2019 it was easier to accept because I’d never been hurt before and that five year run took a lot out of us. But the second time it happened, it was like “what the heck is going on, man?” Just to stay with it… calf raise after calf raise, underwater treadmill… So many days, not even touching a ball.
“And then to go through this season with the ups and downs and even these playoffs… I’m just at a loss for words at times because I just knew this was possible, but to be here in real time… I just wanna enjoy every second of this. I know how fleeting it can be.”
Thompson also took a moment to clap back at Memphis Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr, who mocked the Warriors earlier in the season.
“There was this one player on the Grizzlies who tweeted ‘strength in numbers’ after they beat us in the regular season and it pissed me off so much,” he said. “I can’t wait to re-tweet that thing. Freakin’ bum. To mock us, you ain’t ever been there before, bruh. We’ve been there, we know what it takes. So to be here again, hold that.”