Lost in the euphoria of the Kings big home victory against the New Orleans Hornets was an unfortunate right ankle injury to big man Jason Thompson. Following the game, I had an opportunity to chat with Thompson who was already wearing a protective boot to immobilize the injury.
JH: How long do you think you’re out for?
JT: I don’t know, I think it’s just day to day. Our next game is not until Tuesday, I’ve got treatment tomorrow and treatment on Monday so we’ll see.
JH: Did it swell up already?
JT: It’s hasn’t swollen up too much. It’s just really sore and when I put pressure on it, it hurts a lot. It’s my first ankle injury so I have to see how it goes.
JH: You’ve never done anything to your ankles before?
JT: I’ve never messed up either of my ankles. I’ve never had any type of injury or anything. I have to take it slow but hopefully it will heal sooner rather than later.
JH: You seem to be one of those guys who heals extremely fast.
JT: Yeah, knock on wood. I haven’t had too many injuries and when I do, I try to not go to fast, get a lot of treatment to make sure it’s good. I don’t want play the hero role and come back- it wasn’t needed. I tried to come back and it just wasn’t feeling right. I had to come out and we’ll see what happens the next couple of days.
Thompson is one of the Kings iron men, missing only a small handful of games over his two and a half year NBA career. Unfortunately, this particular injury comes after two very strong games by Kings back-up center Samuel Dalembert. I took this opportunity to ask Thompson about his role with the Kings and the cause and effect of Dalembert’s resent play.
JH: Dalembert has blown up lately and stolen a few minutes from you here and there lately. I know you want to play as much as possible but I watched you on the bench against the Lakers and you were jumping up and down with the rest of your teammates and really in to it. Is this a sign that you are growing through this process and learning to control your emotions a little bit?
JT: Yeah, I think it goes back to controlling what you can control. Obviously I’m happy for our team. I’m the biggest competitor you’ll ever meet and I have the passion to win. Sometimes my situation is better than it is today but when things are going good, you sacrifice things. It’s good to see us winning and hopefully we can continue this streak because we;ve got a really tough stretch at home against good teams.
Jason Thompson is a pro. As a young player, he is still finding his way in the league but one thing is for sure, he will do anything to get back on the floor. Here’s to a speedy recovery.
In other injury news, the Kings are still not ready to put a time frame on veteran Francisco Garcia and his injured calf. The original diagnosis was a few weeks. That time frame was re-iterated by Coach Paul Westphal again today, leaving the Kings without one of their best perimeter shooters for what might be an extended period of time.
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