Klay Thompson Offers Humor And Optimism During Latest Boat Livestream
This offseason, Klay Thompson has spent a portion of his free time driving his boat around San Francisco Bay and live-streaming his journeys on Instagram. He offers updates on his rehabilitation from a torn Achilles tendon, gives a stream-of-consciousness commentary on things he sees while on the water and generally entertains in his typical manner.
On Thursday, Thompson offered up another episode of his adventures. While enjoying his time on the boat, he couldn’t help but turn his attention to basketball and the Warriors’ upcoming season.
“I just want to hook a 40 pounder, that's all I want,” he said while looking out at the water. “That and maybe another championship.”
Unsurprisingly, there were also several moments of unintentional comedy that arose from Thompson simply being himself. Most notably, he ended up taking his boat to McCovey Cove, the area of San Francisco Bay located behind right field of Oracle Park, where the Giants were hosting the Milwaukee Brewers. He spent a portion of the game stationed there, cheering on the home team and hoping to catch a splash hit home run from shortstop Brandon Crawford.
The Giants have been one of the MLB’s best teams so far this season, and Thompson is excited about the potential of a deep postseason run. He also expressed support for Kris Bryant, whom the Giants acquired at the trade deadline.
“Can we go Warriors and Giants champions this year?” Thompson asked. “I mean, the Giants are playing out of their mind. I love the Kris Bryant acquisition, he’s a great player. Reminds me of myself. You know, tall, rangy, gun of an arm, hitting the long ball … they’re playing great. We need some champions in the Bay this year.”
But Thompson’s commentary wasn’t exclusively lighthearted. He has spent most of the past year recovering from an Achilles tear, which came immediately after he had recovered from an ACL tear in his other leg. Speaking to those watching, he expressed a hopeful tone about his eventual return to the court.
“[I’ve] been grinding to get back to who I was,” he stated. “It's gonna be a beautiful thing when I do.”
Thompson’s likeable personality and offbeat sense of humor may be more obvious to the public, but his toughness and work ethic are becoming more well-known as he comes back from two brutal injuries that have caused him to miss the past two entire seasons. His next goal is to translate that work into basketball success.
“I’m gonna ball out this season. By the grace of God I’ll be balling,” he said. “All you can do is keep moving forward … I’m [going to] bounce back, that’s a fact.”