Although sport brings out the most visceral emotions in people, it is also an empathy amplifier as there are few. It makes us instantly understand why those people we see on television are fighting for, and we instantly understand the individual, collective and even social value of victory and defeat. It is not difficult to get in their skins. And this feeling exists, even more so, among the athletes themselves. This is the case of Danny Green indirect ‘culprit’ of Klay Thompson’s anterior cruciate ligament tear in the 2019 Finals. “If I could undo that play, I would.”
Green, at that time guard for the Toronto Raptors, was Klay’s defender in that fateful action. On a fast break, Curry finds Thompson only to face the rim on the run with a two-handed dunk. Green was the only man close to the action and tries to place the side plug with the misfortune of making it difficult for the Warriors to land, who immediately thrashes on the ground in pain. Danny, who received some criticism from rival fans for foul play, still has a hard time viewing the footage. “Nobody wants to see a player like that fall, and even less be the cause. It was not intentional »he assures in his talk with Chris Haynes for Yahoo Sports.
Despite his regret, Green recovers the sequence. “At first I thought it was a clean plug. Then I realized that he had hurt himself and all I wanted to do was make sure he was okay. There were people on the bench and very angry fans. I went for the ball. When he hit the free throws again, I thought he was fine. ” But it wasn’t. Klay would be away from the slopes for more than a year, when in November 2020 he was injured again. This time from the Achilles. «I did not find out about his injury until after the game, it was hard to read the news. His return is an example of persistence. He is one of the greats and he knew he was going to make it. We are very happy that he is back.
(Cover photo by Lachlan Cunningham / Getty Images)