Klay Thompson is as tough as nails, and he proved it in the playoffs

There are many words you can use to describe Klay Thompson, but if anything has become his calling card here in these playoffs, it would be his toughness. Thompson hurt his knee in Game 4 against the Rockets, played through that seven-game series, then hurt it again in Game 1 against the Cavaliers. The all-star guard refuses to quit, refuses to take time off, and refuses to be a reason why his Warriors could lose a game in pursuit of its second NBA championship in as many years.

In short, he’s tough as nails, and his teammates and coaches agree.

“I thought there was no chance he was playing tonight,” Draymond Green said during his postgame press conference. “He came out there and gutted through it. ... That’s just a microcosm of who he is. He’s one of the toughest guys, if not the toughest guy I’ve ever played with. And he’ll never get credit for it because he’s not going to physically beat you up, but one of the toughest if not the toughest, for sure.”

“Klay is just a physical specimen,” Kerr said Friday on a conference call, according to The San Jose Mercury-News’ Mark Medina. “It’s just incredible resilience and stamina to play both ends night after night with 40-plus minutes in the playoffs. He’s a machine.”

Thompson blew by Clint Capela, went up for a layup and landed awkwardly on the ground. He immediately grabbed for his left knee. It looked like the worst could have happened. He walked gingerly to the locker room, and the Warriors dubbed his injury a left lateral leg contusion.

Thompson returned shortly after, and even though he finished the night with just 10 points, he combined for 58 points over the following two games.

Sure, this was an accidental play, but that doesn’t make it any more unfortunate. J.R. Smith tried to cut off a pass but ended up accidentally sliding into Thompson’s legs. The contact twisted Thompson’s body one way while his knee stayed behind. It was ugly, and in slow motion it looked even worse.

But Thompson shook it off, played 45 whole minutes in Game 1 and put up 24 points on 50 percent shooting from both the field and three-point range.

Eventually though, that adrenaline wore off and the pain set in from what was deemed a high ankle sprain and bone bruise. “I was on the training table for 3 straight days, something I’m not used to,” Thompson said after Game 2, “but at this point any means necessary.”

He scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting to help the Warriors to a 19-point win on Sunday.

“I’ve been very blessed not to have any catastrophic injuries in my whole basketball career,” Thompson said via Mark Medina of The San Jose Mercury-News. “I’ve had some knick knacks as far as sprained ankles and thumbs, but nothing that was too detrimental in my future. But I’ve had a high pain tolerance since I’ve been a kid.”

And how did he develop that high tolerance for pain?

“Being able to have brothers beat up on in the driveway and playing football my whole life helped,” he said. “You never know what it’s like to be hurt until you play the sport of football. You arguably can get hurt every play. I developed that as a child. I just want to continue.”

Thompson became the first player in Warriors history to play in 100 playoff games, and he’s played them all without missing one in-between. Golden State has counted on him, and he’s always delivered. That’s because he’s tough as nails, and if you needed any more proof, playing through a the injuries he’s had in the past couple of weeks should be enough.