He appeared relaxed, Klay Thompson enjoyed an offday at the Athletics-Yankees game at the Oakland Coliseum on Sunday sporting sunglasses, a baseball cap and a smile.
How the Golden State Warriors guard spent part of his weekend may seem ordinary for any sports fan. But the implications meant something far greater. After suffering a concussion in the Warriors’ Game 4 win last Wednesday over the Houston Rockets of the Western Conference semifinals, Thompson’s appearance at the Athletics’ baseball game confirmed his father’s confidence that he will play on Thursday when the Warriors host the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the 2015 NBA Finals.
“If you have a concussion, there’s two places you shouldn’t be. Out in the bright sunlight and around a bunch of noise,” former Laker and KSPN 710-AM radio color analyst Mychal Thompson said in a wide-ranging interview on Monday with Los Angeles News Group. “So for him to be at the A’s game, that’s a good sign he’s ready to go.”
Klay Thompson hardly looked ready to go in the last game he played. Houston Rockets forward Trevor Ariza accidentally kneed Klay Thompson in the head as he elevated for a jumper early in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ eventual closeout win. Though Golden State’s medical staff cleared Thompson to return, he eventually sat out the final 9:31 of the game.
“It was unfortunate, but it was an accident,” Mychal Thompson said. “Trevor Ariza is not a dirty player by any means. It’s just one of those unfortunate things that happens on the court.”
Still, the images stuck with Mychal Thompson, a proud father who watched with concern as his son soon started bleeding out of his right ear. Klay Thompson also vomited the rest of the night and had to be driven home. Afterwards, the Warriors diagnosed him with a concussion. All of which made Mychal Thompson have similar butterflies with Golden State guard Stephen Curry took a nasty fall that hit his head in the Warriors’ Game 3 loss to Houston.
“You worry no matter who it is,” Mychal Thompson said. “To see any player have an awkward fall or head injury if it’s your son or not, you start praying for him.”
It looks like Mychal Thompson’s prayers were answered.
He reported that Klay Thompson “started feeling a lot better the next day” as he soon followed the NBA’s concussion protocol guidelines. According to those rules, each player must pass a series of tests symptom free, including stationary bike, light jogging, running, jumping and agility drills, team drills with limited contact and returning to the court without limitations.
“When something like that happens,” Mychal Thompson said, “you have to rest, take it easy and let the symptoms pass.”
And Mychal Thompson believes they have, leaving him confident the Warriors will clear Klay Thompson to practice on Monday.
“I believe so,” Mychal Thompson said. “I think so.”
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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter and on Facebook. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com