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NBA FINALS PREVIEWJune 1, 2015Klay ThompsonQ. How are you feeling today? KLAY THOMPSON: I feel great. Q. Pretty much did everything? KLAY THOMPSON: Yeah, I did everything. Five‑on‑five, got shots up, about to lift now, so I feel great. Q. So you haven't been cleared yet, but are you expecting to be? KLAY THOMPSON: Yeah, I expect to be. I feel like I'm well on my way there. Like you said, I haven't been cleared yet, but I fully expect to be in the next couple days. Q. How did you stay in rhythm over this couple days off? KLAY THOMPSON: I took a day off and then I didn't do much for the first couple days after the last game. But since then I've been running, getting shots up, and today I had a great practice, got a good sweat. So the next few days will be really important to me. Q. No setbacks at all? KLAY THOMPSON: No, not at all. Q. What do you still need to do to? KLAY THOMPSON: I have no idea, obviously. Just probably a few more neurological tests. I'm sure I'll pass those. I feel great. I feel focused, so I'll be all right. Q. Were you worried about how you felt? Were you seriously worried about it? KLAY THOMPSON: I've gotten a concussion before in my life, and I knew it wouldn't take me more than a few days to get back to normal. The last one I got was worse than the one I got last week. So it was more, to me I think it was mild. I mean, it wasn't really severe, but I think it was perfect timing because I got a week off to get perfectly healthy. Q. When they initially told you cleared the protocols, deep down did you think I probably have a concussion? KLAY THOMPSON: No, because they said that I was pretty normal at first. It might have been because of my adrenaline I was so excited. We were playing so well, and honestly I felt great. It was the celebration and everything, and then just a couple hours after the game I had a little headache and felt a little woozie, didn't feel a hundred percent. Q. When did you have the previous concussion? KLAY THOMPSON: Man, freshman year of high school, so it's been a while. Q. What do you remember about the play? KLAY THOMPSON: I was trying to do a shot fake and trying to go by him. It's unfortunate trying to go by him that I caught his knee. Q. Have you watched the replay? KLAY THOMPSON: Yeah, I've seen it many times. Tough shot, unfortunate play. It was just unlucky because head injuries aren't very common, so it was just an unlucky play. Q. Has Trevor reached out to you? KLAY THOMPSON: No, he told me after the game it wasn't intentional. Q. After the game you did the ESPN interview and went back and did a little celebrating. What were some of the things you experienced in the hours and days afterwards? KLAY THOMPSON: Honestly, I only had one tough night, and that was the night of the game. Just had a headache until I went to sleep. But I woke up the next morning feeling all right, and I got a good breakfast, and I felt great. Honestly, like I said, it was just that night of the game my head was still shaken, and I felt like my equilibrium was off and I just didn't feel normal. Q. (Indiscernible)? KLAY THOMPSON: It was a lot of fun. We had Sunday off and what a great way to spend the day, in the sun, watching a good ballgame. They support us, so it was cool to go watch them. I've got a few friends on the team too. Q. I know you want to stay positive, but could you even imagine missing the Finals because of an injury like this? KLAY THOMPSON: I couldn't, and my gut feeling is I won't. I'm pretty positive about that. Especially all the hard work we put in, it's just something I don't really think about. Q. You were wearing shades yesterday. Did the light bother you at all today? KLAY THOMPSON: Not at all, no. It didn't even bother me yesterday, it was just a little sunny out, so have to protect the eyes. Q. What about the noise? The noise level must be something that will irritate you especially with stitches in your ear? KLAY THOMPSON: Only time I felt it was the night of the Western Conference Final. That was the only time I felt like the noise in the locker room I had to go away. Other than that, I woke up, like I said, the next morning feeling normal. I passed some tests now and I feel great. And like I said, I feel like I'm well on my way there. Q. Harrison Barnes says the team actually feeds off your toughness and Steph's toughness. You're the two stars. One landed on his head and the other one was bleeding from his ear. Do you realize people are feeding off your toughness when you go to the bench and stuff like that? KLAY THOMPSON: No, that's cool. That's great that Harrison said that. That means a lot. Harrison's also really tough. I saw him two years ago now in Game 6 against the Spurs. He fell on his face and came back out and still played. His injury might have been worse than mine. So everyone on this team has a sense of toughness. So just give everything out there to play and win the game. Q. Your teammate, Bogut, said it's hard to tell when you have a concussion because you're always goofy. What is your response to that? KLAY THOMPSON: This time might have been easier with the ear bleed. That sounds about right though. Q. So it wasn't internal? The bleeding wasn't internal? KLAY THOMPSON: No, it was just a cut on the ear. Looked much worse than it was. Q. How excited are you for Coach Gentry and the opportunity he has after this year? KLAY THOMPSON: Well, I'm not excited to play against him because he runs some great sets and he'll make it tough on us for years to come. But for Coach Gentry, I'm really excited for him, happy for him. The Pelicans got a great coach and an even better guy. He's going to make it fun for those guys to go to work every day. He's a huge part of our success this year, and I'm sure he's huge for Steve as well and just for his coaching experience. So I'm really happy for Coach Gentry, he deserves it. Q. Your coach talked about distractions. Has your dad given you any advice being that he was in The Finals of the championship? KLAY THOMPSON: Yeah, there are just going to be a lot of requests. There are going to be a lot of people that want to come into town giving you advice. He just told me try to be away from the phone as much as possible. Get tickets for your family and close ones, and keep your circle small at this point. You'll have plenty of time to reach out to everybody once we finish the deal. Q. What kind of challenges does the Cleveland defense bring? KLAY THOMPSON: A lot like the Rockets. They're long, they've got good rebounders and play passing lanes well. Those three things. Q. Do you see yourself guarding LeBron a lot in this series? KLAY THOMPSON: I'll be switched on to him. I probably won't get the main assignment, but us wings will all have a collective effort in trying to slow him down. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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