The long awaited return of Golden State Warriors shooting guard Klay Thompson is finally here. After being out for over 900 days due to a torn ACL and a torn Achilles, Thompson will make his return on Sunday against the Cleveland Cavaliers at home. Thompson missed the entire 2019-20 season due to his ACL and then missed the entire 2020-21 season due to his Achilles. To say the least, it's been a while since we've seen him play in an NBA game.
For the Warriors, the return of Thompson is huge. He's one of the greatest shooters the NBA has ever seen, cut out of the Ray Allen/Reggie Miller cloth as a lethal shooter in catch and shoot situations. He moves really well without the ball and if you give him any space, he'll hit a three in your face. In the 2018-19 season, Thompson averaged 21.5 points per game on 46.7% shooting from the field, 40.2% shooting from 3-point range, and 81.6% shooting from the foul line. He was an All-Star for the fifth consecutive season and he was just starting to enter the prime of his career before going down with two bad injuries. If he's able to get back to that form or close to it, he'll be a very nice boost to a Warriors team that is 29-9 and looking to get back to the NBA Finals.
As for the NBA at large, it's just fun to have Klay back. He's a really fun player to watch and has one of the better personalities in the league. He has a bit of a dry sense of humor and is laid back while also being very lethal on the court. As good as Stephen Curry is, I think we've all missed seeing Curry play with Thompson by his side. The Splash Brothers as they have been called, are now back as a duo and the league will be better for it.
In terms of what we can realistically expect from Thompson, it's probably fair to expect him to be a bit rusty at first. He needs to get back into game conditioning and it could take him a little bit of time to find his rhythm. But in time, I do expect him to get back to being one of the best shooters in the league and who knows, maybe he'll surprise me and get off to a great start on Sunday. Regardless, I'm glad he's back and I hope he's able to stay healthy going forward.
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