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Klay Thompson won four championships with the Warriors, but he had to overcome a number of serious injuries while helping construct the most recent NBA dynasty. That includes the torn Achilles tendon that forced him to miss the entirety of the 2020-21 campaign, and he recently decided to thank the surgeon who helped him get back on the court by giving him the ring he won after he made his grand return.
There aren’t many NBA players who’ve managed to have a lengthy career without dealing with their fair share of injuries, and Klay Thompson is all too familiar with the toll playing basketball for a living can take on your body.
Steph Curry’s fellow Splash Brother played an instrumental role in helping the Warriors win back-to-back championships in 2017 and 2018, but Golden State fell painfully short of a three-peat after losing to the Raptors in 2019 in a series where Toronto undoubtedly benefitted from the torn ACL he suffered in the third quarter of the sixth game of the NBA Finals.
Thompson was subsequently forced to sit out for the remainder of the following season, and while he was on track to return for the one that kicked off in 2020, he tore his Achilles during a pickup game. That setback required another surgery, and it prevented him from playing until he finally returned on January 9, 2022 after a two-and-a-half-year hiatus.
The comeback culminated with the Warriors beating the Celtics in the NBA Finals to give Thompson his fourth ring with the franchise—one that’s no longer in his possession after he decided to give it to a man who played an instrumental role in his recovery.
Dr. Richard Ferkel, an orthopedic surgeon based in Van Nuys, California, was the man Thompson turned to for the procedure that successfully repaired his Achilles, and the star who currently plays for the Mavericks invited him to watch Dallas face off against the Lakers in Los Angeles on Tuesday during the highly-awaited game where Luka Doncic faced off against his team for the first time.
After the contest, Thompson presented Ferkel with a token of gratitude in the form of the championship ring he got after the Warriors won in 2022, which boasts 16 carats worth of yellow and white diamonds.
A special moment for Klay Thompson after tonight’s game: He gave a 2022 Warriors championship ring to the legendary Dr. Richard Ferkel, who repaired Klay’s Achilles in Nov. 2020.
“Without you, I would not have been the second leading scorer on a championship team, “Thompson… pic.twitter.com/zguQkUdxNw
— Sam Amick (@sam_amick) February 26, 2025
What a guy.