Draymond Green claims Klay Thompson’s 2019 kept him from leaving Warriors to become a first option

Draymond Green believes that Klay Thompson's traumatic Achilles injury during the 2019 NBA Finals prevented him from leaving the Warriors to become a first option elsewhere. Thompson suffered the devastating injury in Game 6 of the Finals against the Toronto Raptors, which directly contributed to the Warriors' failure to capture a third consecutive title.

With the 2019 season marking Thompson's free agency, there were concerns that he might depart from Golden State. However, Green now asserts that the injury was the reason he would have remained with the team. On his podcast, Green detailed why he thinks Thompson was planning to leave the Warriors before his injury and debunked the notion that Thompson couldn't be the team's top player.

Comparing Thompson to the legendary Reggie Miller, Green argued that if Thompson had left the Warriors, he too could have become a number one option. Green's claim highlights how Thompson's injury not only affected his own career but also altered the trajectory of the Warriors' championship aspirations.