As the basketball world looked upon Klay Thompson, he picked his chin up into the LED blue and yellow Chase Center atmosphere and rose, slowly making his way through Golden State’s handshake line. About halfway through, his stoic face turned to a grin. He’s been waiting for this for so long.
Then Thompson jumped as high as he could, maybe as high as he ever has, before huddling up. He leapt again, knees to chest, at halfcourt moments later before body-checking the stanchion for the opening tip. His return was already official. But now it was real.
Two successive serious injuries took Thompson away from basketball for 941 days. The unprecedented combination of torn ACL and Achilles have made Thompson’s rehab an odyssey, his future in the NBA a mystery. Will he ever be the same? Is he going to be able to stay healthy? What about his defense?
Now in his 11th season, with Sunday’s momentous return, Thompson’s career is restarted. The injuries powered down his NBA existence, but he’s now turned to his second life as an NBA player. Sunday, as the sold-out crowd roared as he scored his first points in the Chase Center, Thompson was reborn. He is, finally, back.
Thompson has said he’s “more motivated than ever.” That he’s hungry to prove to everyone how good he is. In his emotional return, that showed in the form of an unflappable confidence, a still-pure shooting stroke, and bouncy athleticism. His first game back, the three-time champion scored 17 points in 20 minutes, helping the Warriors (31-9) to a 96-82 win over Cleveland.
The five-time All-Star who lobbied to stay in the game after tearing his ACL in the Finals pumped his fists and waved on the crowd when he walked out of the tunnel for warmups 58 minutes before tipoff. For 15 minutes, he and Stephen Curry were the only two Warriors getting up shots on the court; The Splash Bros back again. Thompson hit his first four warm-up shots, showered with increasing cheers for each consecutive make.
In a way, Warriors fans have gone through the last two-and-a-half years with Thompson. The two seasons without the star have led to transitory doldrums — GSW’s first two losing seasons since Thompson’s rookie year — on the court. But Thompson’s connection with the Bay Area has only intensified with his newfound love of boating through the San Francisco Bay and the support he received from fans during the past two tough years.
Phil Eugenio and Oliver Antonio, two friends from college who have rooted for the Warriors since the 1980s and have been going to games together since the Oracle days, had to make it for Thompson’s return. They were at Oracle Arena the last time Thompson laced them up, too, when he went down in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
“One of the original Splash Bros,” Antonio, 49, said. “Just his personality. All the work he puts in. Clutch player. Game 6 Klay. So many accolades to his legend.”
“And he’s just funny,” Eugenio, 50 and wearing a fake blue afro and comically oversized yellow glasses, added.
Thompson’s affability, perseverance and love for basketball inspired his teammates to wear his jersey to the game. He means so much to the team, Draymond Green still started to honor him despite tweaking his calf pregame. Oakland native Juan-Toscano Anderson declared Jan. 9 an “East Oakland National Holiday: Klay Day” as the Warriors jogged out of the tunnel — finally whole again.
The man who had to re-learn how to walk started the game by curling off a screen, slicing through the paint and scoring. In fitting fashion, it took him 40 seconds and one dribble to get back in an NBA box score.
Thompson missed his next four shots, including three 3-pointers, but made it through his first four minutes and 23 seconds of NBA game play unscathed. The Chase Center gave him a standing ovation. As if he needed the encouragement to keep shooting.
The Warriors are putting Thompson on a pitch clock, ramping up his minutes in the few weeks but starting at five-minute bursts. He checked back in late in the second quarter and showed not only that his confidence didn’t waver, but also that he can still be explosive.
With center Jarrett Allen on him in a switch, Thompson crossed from right to left into the paint, rose up and slammed a dunk over Lamar Stevens. He lifted off on his surgically repaired knee and landed hard on the foot with a surgically repaired Achilles.
Until recently, a torn Achilles was a career-ending injury. The body’s largest tendon connects the heel bone to the calf muscle and allows the “push-off.” Thompson throwing down that jam after what his body went through would’ve been unthinkable 20 years ago, but medicine created a modern miracle.
After Thompson’s thunderous slam, he poured in his first 3-pointer back. The catch-and-shoot triple from the wing splashed in for his 12,000th career point.
Thompson rode the momentum into the second half. He drove left before fading away on the baseline for a bucket. Then he took Lauri Markkanen off the dribble for an elbow pull-up. After he drilled a transition 3 — the 1,800th of his career — he flew back down the court with his arms jetted out. Cleveland called timeout. Thompson skipped to the corner, pounding his chest and egging on the crowd. It was the same type of energy he brought to Oracle, now in the Chase Center at last.
Like that, he added seven more points to his total in 2:52. Curry (26 points, five assists, five rebounds) and the rest of the Warriors built a 19-point lead by the time Thompson went back to the scorer’s table in the fourth. Then Rajon Rondo hit three 3s, leading a Cleveland charge that brought the Cavs within 10.
But Thompson sunk another 3 and sat down to another raucous ovation. Then “Klay! Klay! Klay!” chants. Later, “We Want Klay!” clamoring. After 941 days, he soaked it all in with Golden State’s lead safe.
Even if he didn’t look like himself, if he didn’t go 7-for-18 from the floor, Sunday still would’ve been a special moment. Thompson’s journey back to the court was so daunting, GSW coach Steve Kerr said pregame he’ll never forget Sunday’s game.
“Nobody could possibly know what he went through, other than Klay,” Kerr said pregame. “That’s what tonight is about. All of us showing our appreciation for what he’s had to go through individually and expressing our affection for him.”
No matter what, Thompson has already done it. Just stepping on the court after tearing his ACL and Achilles without playing any games between, Thompson made history. No one else has ever made it all the way back from that. Before any defensive stops, any drives to the rim, any 3s, he triumphed.
But if Sunday is any indication, those are coming, too. Making history is just the introduction to Thompson’s second act.
