Klay Thompson pays his tribute to Warriors director of Sports medicine Rick Celebrini after winning the Championship

 

It was nothing less than a heroic moment for Klay Thompson to come back from two career threatening injuries to win the NBA Championship with the Golden State Warriors. He ws so ecstatic after the Warriors defeated the Celtics in Game 6 that he was very emotional and went straight to Golden State Warriors’ director of sports medicine and performance, Rick Celebrini.

Klya was seen hugging a person from the support staff and it was none other than Celbrini who has had his back for the last couple of years when he was on the sidelines looking to get back on the court and play basketball again.

It was a very emotional night for Klay Thompson as he opened up about his feeling in the ‘Point Forward’ podcast recently. He just shared how Celebrini was the only shoulder he had to lean on during those difficult times. So after winning the championship giving him a hug came naturally to him as a gesture of gratitude for whatever that he has done.

“He was just literally a shoulder for me to lean on during times when it just looked bad, like in the chatter, ‘No one’s ever come back from it, two [major injuries] back-to-back,” Klay shared.

An integral part of this legendary Warriors dynasty, Klay Thompson tore his ACL first and on it’s recovery he tore his achilles. It took him 941 days to get back on court and then he produced his magic alongside lifelong buddies in Stephen Curry and Draymond Green and the Dubs all over the globe.

Through his days of rehabilitation and getting back to strength, Rick Celebrini was Klay Thompson’s best friend. Hence there was no doubt that Klay had tears of joy as at the end of the day it was because of Celebrini Klay came back on court.

Klay Thjompson shared some insight on his training session in his rehab during an interview after the Game 6 in the finals. He shared, “Just to stay with it, just calf raise after calf raise, underwater treadmill, so many days not even touching a ball.”

The Warriors were sensational and rightfully won the NBA Championship beating the Boston Celtics. However with Klay Thompson fit again and Stephen Curry still getting better, the Warriors will once again be a force to be reckoned with in the coming season.