It was Klay Day, after all.
When Klay Thompson took the court for warmups on Jan. 9, fans at the Chase Center were fixated on his every move. While they ooh’d and aah’d with every Klay splash, Draymond Green and Warriors director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini were low-key holding a conversation about Green’s health.
That day, Green felt a calf tweak but Celebrini suspected it might be something else. So Celebrini asked Green to test himself out in warmups, but he couldn't find the appropriate strength.
“The look on Rick’s face when I couldn’t perform some of the tests let me know,” Green told reporters during a lengthy press conference Thursday. “He knew right away what it was. Even the MRI, he said, ‘We’re going to MRI your back.’ Never MRI’d my calf.”
Green said he was grateful to make a ceremonial start with Thompson, but a week later, the Warriors announced that a disc in Green’s lower back was actually the source of his injury.
“I had no idea that things could connect that way,” Green said.
On Thursday, Green said he hopes to return within three to four weeks. The Warriors are expected to re-evaluate Green during the All-Star break, which runs from Feb. 18 to Feb. 23.
Green said he’s experiencing “zero” back pain right now and his calf isn’t tightening up, but that it’s a matter of getting his conditioning and strength back up to par. Thursday night’s game against the Kings will mark the 15th game Green has missed since his injury.
“Dealing with the back, one thing I’m not going to do is rush back out there,” Green said. “I want to return when I’m 100 percent healthy, when I feel like I’m in great shape. The reality is, I don’t want to return not in somewhat of game shape. Then you’re laboring and your mechanics and running is off – it’s just all these things – then you’re compensating and I get hurt again.”
But if Green isn’t back by the end of the month, he said fans shouldn’t fret.
“I’m telling you now, that doesn’t mean there’s a problem,” Green said. “That doesn’t mean that there’s a setback. I want to return to the floor when my conditioning is at the right level.”
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Though it seems like a huge speed bump for Green – who was named an All-Star earlier in the day – the veteran is keeping a positive big picture outlook about the situation. Green said the recovery time has enabled him to transfer weight room work into success on the floor, in some cases unlocking progress that he’s been seeking for two years.
“Ultimately, this’ll be a positive for me,” Green said. “I think I’ll come back stronger, I think I’ll come back faster, jumping higher, due to things that I’m able to work on now.”
Green said he and the Warriors have never considered surgery to this point and opinions from two doctors indicate he won’t ever need an operation to correct the problem.
“I don’t wanna mosey out there on the court just because I can,” Green said. “I don’t want to go out on the court and I’m not at full strength. I wanna feel good about my game, I wanna feel good about conditioning, I wanna feel good about my body. That takes time to get all three of those things on the same page. There’s times you’re going through a season healthy and all three of those things aren’t on the same page.”
In the meantime, Green said he’s enjoyed watching the Warriors figure out the offense without his pacing and facilitation. He has also enjoyed the development of youngsters like rookies Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody.
“Being able to figure out these lineups has been great,” Green said. “It was a little shaky at first and to be expected. … I think it took a little adjusting for guys to get used to me not being out there, but after a few games you seen we started to get a hang of that.”
