Danny Green Wishes He Could Take Back Play That Injured Klay Thompson

Danny Green wishes he could take back the play that injured Klay Thompson in the 2019 NBA Finals

Lachlan Cunningham | Credit: Getty Images

After a two-year absence, Golden State Warriors sharpshooter Klay Thompson is back. The five-time All-Star made his season debut on Sunday night, putting up 17 points in his first game since the 2019 NBA Finals. It was that series where he tore his ACL, which would ultimately be followed be an achilles tear, causing him to miss the entire 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons.

Three-time NBA champion Danny Green was involved in the play that injured Klay Thompson, colliding with him on a chase-down block attempt during the 3rd quarter of Game 6. While Green never intended to injure Thompson, he recently revealed to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that he wishes he could take that play back. 

"If I can take that play back, I would," Green said. "No one wants to see a great player go down, and no one wants to be the cause of that. It wasn't intentional. I’m glad that he’s back. The game has missed him." Danny Green added that "When it first happened, I thought I blocked the ball. I thought it was a clean block and then he went down, I was like, ‘Man, he’s hurt. Let me make sure he’s OK.’ Some of the guys on the sidelines were upset. A lot of fans were upset. Obviously, I got a lot of backlash for it. But I'm trying to make a clean play on the ball, and I just wanted to make sure he was good. ... And then he came back on the court to shoot his free throws, and that's when I thought he was fine."

Chris Haynes continued his report, stating that Greed added, "I didn't know that he tore anything until after the game, which was a tough blow. It was tough to hear what was being said, but I didn't look at myself as the victim. My concern was for him. Their fans are great fans. They’re going to encourage their team. And anybody that tries to hurt or do anything to the other 10 or 13 players, they're gonna fight for them. So, I got some heated emotions from some of the fans, but every time I've spoken about the incident, I've stated that it was not purposeful at all."

The game has indeed missed Klay Thompson, and it is great to have one of the NBA's most exciting players back, as he and the Golden State Warriors gun for another championship.

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