Kevin Durant put together an impressive season for the Brooklyn Nets in 2020-21, his first time back on the court since tearing his Achilles tendon with the Warriors during the 2019 NBA Finals. Steve Kerr believes KD's success after the debilitating injury should serve as inspiration for Klay Thompson, who is hoping to return sometime early next season after suffering an Achilles tear in November 2020.
"Kevin [Durant] is absolutely an inspiration to Klay [Thompson] and to those of us who are coaching Klay," Kerr told 95.7 The Game on Thursday. "Kevin does not look one bit different to me coaching him now than he did two years ago when he was playing for the Warriors. It’s really encouraging.”
Kerr is back coaching Durant with Team USA as they prepare for the Tokyo Olympics, and has gotten a chance to work closely with the star over the past few weeks.
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Klay echoed Kerr's sentiments back in March, as he mentioned KD among a number of current and former NBA players who he looks to for inspiration.
"I see guys like (Kevin Durant) KD, John Wall, my guy DeMarcus (Cousins), Wes Matthews, Jonas Jerebko, all these guys have come back to play at the level they were at or very close to it," Thompson told reporters. "Can even look back in history to a guy like the Human Highlight Reel Dominique Wilkins, I've relied on Dominique for a lot of inspiration, he came back, led the league in scoring, won a EuroLeague title years later.
"I talked to Grant Hill right after I got hurt and I thought Grant was a great guy to reach out to, because like me he was cut down in his prime, and he had a crazy expectation, he was one of the greats of the 90s, he was in that mold of MJ and Kobe, and he was one of the next special wings and he ended up having an incredible Hall of Fame career, leaning on Grant and seeing what he did after three years of his ankles being like glass inspires me a lot to never give up."
KD sat out the entire 2019-20 season and did not play in the NBA bubble after going down in June 2019. This past season, Durant played in just 35 regular-season games, but looked to be back close to his old self, averaging 26.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.6 assists.
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In the playoffs, Durant took on the majority of the load offensively as star teammates James Harden and Kyrie Irving battled injuries. Over 12 postseason games, KD played 40.4 minutes a night and put up 34.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists.
Thompson now has missed two consecutive seasons after tearing his ACL in the same series KD went down with the Achilles injury. All indications from the Warriors are that Klay's recovery has gone as planned, and the team will be cautious but hopes he can be back on the court early in the 2021-22 NBA season.
If the Warriors can get something close to what Thompson was before his two major lower-body injuries, the team should at least be back among the top four or five teams in the Western Conference.
Especially after the bubble forced a quick turnaround for this past season, the Warriors are far from the only team in the West dealing with major injuries to key players.
Similar to Durant, Klay's love of the game likely has made him relentless in his rehab from the injury. If Thompson can mirror KD's impressive return, the Warriors will be in great shape going into next season.