NBA: Warriors' Thompson 'unlikely' to return this season

Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors reacts after hurting his leg during an NBA Finals game against the Toronto Raptors in Oakland, California, on Jun 13, 2019. PHOTO: AFP

SAN FRANCISCO (REUTERS) Klay Thompson is unlikely to play this season, Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told NBC Sports Bay Area.

Thompson will be absent for nine months from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament by April, at which point the Warriors aren't comfortable risking re-injury by playing the All-Star guard before he's 100 perc ent healthy.

"It's unlikely that he's going to play this year," Kerr said. "So we have to understand that."

Thompson had surgery on July 2 and said he is targeting a return after the NBA All-Star break in February.

Kerr knows where Thompson stands, having suffered the same injury while in college.

"You have to look at it realistically," Kerr told NBC. "I had an ACL (tear) 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 them out for the season."

Meanwhile, Michael Jordan isn't ready to put Stephen Curry in the Hall of Fame, though the two-time NBA Most Valuable Player and three-time NBA champion has averaged 23.5 points, 6.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds per game with the Warriors.

Jordan, a five-time MVP who won six titles with the Chicago Bulls, appeared on "Today" and refused to walk back comments in 2013 that he would be unbeatable in a pick-up game and offered a list of players he felt would help him be impossible to beat.

He said Hakeem Olajuwon, Magic Johnson, Scottie Pippen and James Worthy were the only names on that list.

"So, Steph Curry shouldn't be offended when he watches this," Jordan said. "I hope not. He's still a great player. Not a Hall of Famer yet though. He's not."

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