SAN FRANCISCO -- Hours after an interview aired, during which Steve Kerr declared Warriors guard Klay Thompson was "unlikely" to return this season, the coach clarified his comments Tuesday, blaming the current media landscape for how his explanation was received. 

"My comment was very matter of fact," Kerr said following practice Tuesday afternoon. "ACL [injuries], generally they take nine to 12 months. Nine months takes us right until the end of the season.

"It's really not news, it's more reality. We'll leave the door open and we'll see what happens at the end of the year. But Klay is doing great." 

Kerr's latest comments on Thompson, who tore his ACL in June, came following an exclusive interview with NBC Sports Bay Area that aired Tuesday on NBC Sports' NBA Season Tip-Off Show. In the interview, Kerr called Thompson's return this season "unlikely," citing the team's recovery timeline of nine to 12 months.

Following Tuesday's practice, Kerr blamed the current media landscape for taking his comments out of context.

"I forgot with modern media that 'unlikely' is going to become -- on the ticker -- 'out for the year' and all that stuff," Kerr said. "Probably my mistake for opening my month. Not the first time I've gotten myself in trouble for doing that, but it's an ACL. So if you just do your research on the history of ACLs, he had surgery on July 2. Get a calculator, do the math." 

Following his injury, Thompson said he hoped to play after the NBA All-Star break in February. Entering training camp, both Kerr and Warriors general manager Bob Myers expressed hope Thompson could return this season.

Thompson's injury comes during a unique time for the Warriors. During the NBA playoffs, the team faced scrutiny for how it handled Kevin Durant's calf injury and his subsequent ruptured Achilles. On Tuesday, Kerr was asked if his initial comments on Thompson were an attempt to get ahead of further questioning on the injury. 

"I think in general these days it's more difficult to get out ahead of the messaging on any issue," Kerr said. "And so you have to be careful, and like I said I probably made a mistake yesterday, but we're just handling it as we would handle any injury and he's doing great. Like we said in training camp, we'll have an update at the All-Star break."

[RELATED: Watch Brian Shaw highlight how Steph, D-Lo fit on Warriors]

Thompson has been visible around the team in recent weeks. Following Sunday's practice, he stood along the baseline as players wrapped up individual workouts.

On Tuesday, he put up practice shots with guard D'Angelo Russell and rookie Jordan Poole. For a player who has never missed more than nine games in a season, Kerr said Thompson still is adjusting to his new circumstances. 

"Klay's bored more than anything," Kerr said. "He wants to play, he loves basketball so much. So the good thing is he's starting to shoot out here, he's starting to do more things, but we've had internal discussions with several of them in recent weeks and we understand the circumstances."

The Warriors have been the NBA's model of consistency for half a decade, but things are going to look much different this season.

With Klay Thompson rehabbing from a torn ACL and Kevin Durant doing the same from a ruptured Achilles in a new uniform, Golden State enters coach Steve Kerr's sixth season in an uncertain position. The Warriors still have two-time MVP Stephen Curry, however, and perhaps no player in the league will have a bigger effect on their team's fortunes than Curry. 

"I think the biggest variable in the NBA right now is what that No. 30 does this season," NBC Sports NBA Insider Tom Haberstroh said on NBC Sports' NBA Season Tip-Off Show on Tuesday. "How many games does he play? How much load management is he going to see in the regular season this year and how many games is he going to take off? Because in the preseason, he was on fire." 

As Haberstroh noted, Curry averaged 39.5 points per 36 minutes during the preseason. Haberstroh predicted Curry would win the scoring title in his season preview column, and Curry's preseason total easily would have led NBA players who played at least 1,000 regular-season minutes last season. This preseason provides a small sample size, but Curry was similarly explosive away from Durant in the last three seasons and before he joined the Warriors in the first place. 

"[If Curry's] going to win the scoring title and the Warriors win 50 games, I think he's going to be in the MVP conversation," Haberstroh said. 

[RELATED: How Kawhi, Clippers will give Dubs some Finals déjà vu]

Fifty wins will be a tall task, given how loaded the Western Conference is and how much learning-on-the-fly the Warriors will have to do following an offseason of change. NBC Sports Bay Area Warriors Insider Monte Poole noted that Curry will have to get to know a new backcourt partner in D'Angelo Russell, but he will also have to contend with opposing defenses' undivided focus. 

"I think, when you look at Steph, he's going to get a lot of attention this year," Poole said. "Teams are going to basically say, 'You know what, don't let Steph beat us. Anybody else? Fine. But don't let Steph beat us.'"

Curry undoubtedly is used to the spotlight, but how he responds to a brighter one during his 11th NBA season will determine the Warriors' fortunes in 2019-20. 

The Clippers' acquisitions of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George gave LA's other franchise what arguably is the NBA's most formidable duo.

It turns out the Clippers are quite alright with just one of them in the lineup.

Without George, who is sidelined for about a month after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery, the Clippers beat the crosstown rival Lakers 112-102 on the first night of the season Wednesday. The Clippers' win followed a playbook the Warriors know all too well after their NBA Finals loss in June, and it's one they'll surely see again Thursday night at Chase Center in Golden State's season opener.

Leonard led the Clippers with 30 points Tuesday night, and he was the only Clips starter to score in double figures. The reigning NBA Finals MVP was aided by four double-digit scorers off the Clippers' bench, though, as Lou Williams (21 points), Maurice Harkless (17), JaMychal Green (12) and Maurice Harkless (10) all shot at least 50 percent from the field.

Sound familiar? It should, as the Clippers looked a lot like the Toronto Raptors did in a six-game NBA Finals win over the Warriors.

Leonard led the way in June, but he got a lot of help from his former teammates. Five other Raptors scored at least 10 points per game in The Finals, including bench players Fred VanVleet (14.0 points per game) and Serge Ibaka (11.3). Toronto's depth out-shined Golden State's, as only the Warriors' original big three of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green scored in double figures during The Finals.

[RELATED: Kerr clarifies his comments on Klay's ACL recovery timeline]

The Warriors were without Kevin Durant for all but 12 minutes of The Finals, and lacked Thompson down the stretch in Game 6. Golden State will miss both of them Thursday, given Durant's offseason departure for the Brooklyn Nets and Thompson's continued recovery from a torn ACL. D'Angelo Russell was brought in to fill the void, but the Warriors' season opener could look a lot like the end of their last one four months ago. 

Down a star, the Warriors will have to stop Leonard and a very deep supporting cast. He will wear red, white and blue in San Francisco rather than red and black in Oakland, but in the absence of George, Leonard's early Clippers tenure will give the Warriors plenty of déjà vu.