J-Speaks: The Return of The Other Splash Brother

 

June 13, 2019 was not only the final game at Oracle Arena as well as the conclusion of the Golden State Warriors reign as back-to-back NBA champions it was this moment where they lost one half of their “Splash Brothers” dynamic backcourt to a devastating knee injury. As he was about to make his return, said “Splash Brother” suffered a ruptured Achilles just before the start of training camp a season ago. On Sunday after months of grueling rehabilitation, the Warriors got the other half of the “Splash Brothers” back.

After 941 days away from basketball because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and a torn right Achilles, Klay Thompson returned to the hardwood to score 17 points on 7/18 from the field, including 3/8 from three-point range in 20 minutes the Warriors (30-9) 96-82 win on Sunday night versus the Cleveland Cavaliers (22-18).

When Thompson name was announced during the introduction of the starting lineups at to the faithful at Chase Center, everyone stood up with their phones flashing in the background.

Thompson broke the seal on the contest by scoring on a running layup 40 seconds into the game, which was a sign that the five-time All-Star was feeling good after not seeing any action in his team’s last 175 regular season games.

“I was so excited I saw a lane to the basket that I just took the opportunity,” Thompson said. “After that I thought it was going to be one of those nights where I might be unconscious. I did not shoot as well as I wanted to but I’m so happy I can even look at the stat sheet and see my name there. It’s been a long run. I’m not going to say it’s equivalent to winning a championship but it was pretty close.”

What really excited those in attendance on Sunday night was late in the second quarter when Thompson drove around a Cavaliers defender near the three-point line and scored on a one-handed throwdown dunk over center Jarrett Allen and Thompson snarled and pounded his chest as he walked back to midcourt.

“When those lights are the brightest, I just felt bouncy,” Thompson said in his postgame presser about that play. “It felt so good to through that down. I did not expect that. I’m very pleased with my efforts tonight.”

“I missed some shots I always make but I’m just happy to be able like I can say that because I couldn’t say that the last two years.”  

After working on a stationary bike before the start of the second half, Thompson began the third quarter making consecutive three-pointers, including one that put him over 12,000 career points and 1,800 career made three-pointers, becoming the second fastest in NBA history, 616 games to make 1,800 threes.

To go along with his 17 points, Thompson added three boards, an assist and two steals in 20 minutes and when he left the floor to a thunderous applause and ovation from those at the Chase Center, who also chanted “Klay! Klay!”

To put into context how big of a night this was for Thompson, Draymond Green, who has been a teammate of Thompson’s and Stephen Curry’s for a decade convinced the Warriors coaching staff to be introduced with the starting lineup, despite the fact that he was not going to play because he injured his calf during pregame warm-ups.

That happened and Green seconds into the game was subbed out.

That is the kind of respect Klay Thompson has from his team, especially the other two pillars of it in Curry and Green, who led the Warriors to five consecutive NBA Finals appearances (2015-19) and three championships (2015, 2017, and 2018).

The last time those three shared the court together was as mentioned was Game 6 of the 2019 Finals at Oracle Arena versus the eventual NBA champion Toronto Raptors, where Thompson on a breakaway drive to the basket tore the ACL in his left knee.

In an interview with NBATV’s Dennis Scott prior to his return over the weekend, Thompson said of that moment that he felt his knee shift but did not know the severity that he tore his ACL because he never had anything like that happen to him in his basketball life.

“I remember my knee not hurting until the drive home,” Thompson said to Scott. “When that all wore off, I was diagnosed with a torn ACL.”

“It was such a long run. Five straight years in The Finals. Hundreds of basketball games played in that time, and I accepted I could take a year off and get my body right.”

In November 2020 though, Thompson tore his right Achilles, which he told Scott was “so unexpected” because he was 13 months out of rehabbing his left ACL and just a matter of days from the start of training camp, and when he went for a jump shot, he tore is Achilles.

“When you get hurt a couple of times, you think, “why me a lot?”

“You can’t hold on to that stuff,” Thompson added. “I accepted my reality as time went on because you only got one option, and that’s either dig out of the whole that’s you’re in. And I give myself a lot of credit for fighting through the last 13 months to get to where I’m at now. Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.”

That is not to say that there were a plethora of tough moments Thompson had to fight through. He said to Scott that he never lost confidence that he would get return to the floor but said he did not know the type of player he would be.

The rehabilitation that Thompson had to do, he said that it was hard to see in the early and middle stages of rehabbing of him being the player he once was.

That loud roar Thompson heard though when his name was introduced during the aforementioned starting lineup intros, he said those days rehabbing on a squat rack or on the shuttle board worth “every single moment.”

“It was a very special moment,” Thompson said of being introduced as a starter again. “I’m just so grateful to just compete again,” Thompson said. “It’s been a hard road but I’m just also proud of myself for persevering. It’s not the equivalent to winning a championship. But man, it was pretty freaking close.”   

What Thompson has endured in trying to get back to the hardwood over the last 30 months has given him a greater appreciation for the opportunity to do something that a majority of  people get the chance to do, making a living playing a professional sport.

The Warriors not only saw their reign as NBA champions conclude but they lost Thompson for the entire 2019-20 season.

Following Thompson’s injury on that night, Curry was on the other end of the floor slamming the basketball out of frustration and then sat on the floor in sheer sadness about what just happened to his teammate.  

As happy as Thompson was to be back on the floor after a two-year absence, Curry and head coach Steve Kerr were just as happy to have Thompson back on the court.

A great deal has changed though with not just the Warriors, but the landscape as well as the entire world has changed completely since the last time Thompson was on the hardwood in the late spring of 2019.

Of the eight Raptors who played in that title clinching Game 6 win at Oracle Arena, only Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet remain.

Thompson’s former teammate in perennial All-Star and 2014 Kia MVP Kevin Durant, who was the Finals MVP in 2017 and 2018, who suffered his own right Achilles tear in Game of the 2019 Finals at the Raptors bolted in free agency to join the Brooklyn Nets that summer, teaming up with fellow perennial All-Star, NBA champion, good friend, and former Boston Celtic guard Kyrie Irving and eventually former Houston Rockets perennial All-Star and 2018 Kia MVP James Harden.

Thompson’s last game came six months before global scientist identified the Coronavirus (COVID-19), which three months later put a pause on not just the 2019-20 NBA season but the entire sports world and the world at large.

What followed was unprecedented weirdness. Profound sadness, especially for the loss of five-time NBA champion, Hall of Famer and Lakers legend Kobe Bryant.

That was followed by unrelenting pleas for social justice in the wake of the murder of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis, MN police officer.

We had the conclusion of the 2019-20 NBA season in Orlando, FL, which experienced a brief shut down after another African American was shot at the hands of law enforcement in Wisconsin. When play eventually resumed, the LeBron James, Anthony Davis led Lakers won their 17^th title in franchise history in a mostly empty gym in October 2020.

The NBA as well as pro sports eventually welcomed back fans to arenas in 2020-21 and the Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday led Milwaukee Bucks won their second title in franchise history, their first in five decades.

Since Thompson last broke a serious game sweat on the hardwood, the likes of Zion Williamson, LaMelo Ball, and Ja Morant broke into the NBA respectably with the New Orleans Pelicans, Charlotte Hornets, and Memphis Grizzlies.

On the NBA coaching front, 23 teams have had new leaders on their sidelines.

As for the Warriors, they have moved to a new building, the aforementioned Chase Center and dressed 36 players. Curry was No. 3 on the all-time three-pointers made list when he and Thompson last played together.

Thompson asked Curry after a Warriors victory, “How much longer until you break Ray Allen’s three-point record?” 

Curry became the all-time leader in three-pointers made on Dec. 14, 2021 in the Warriors 105-96 win at the New York Knicks (19-21). 

Curry, who had 28 points versus the Cavaliers said to ESPN's Malika Andrews after the win that being reunited on the floor with Thompson was "special." 

"I had goosebumps before the game. The starting lineup. The crowd's reaction. Klay's been a big ball of energy over these last like 7-10 days just looking just looking forward to this moment and it was everything," Curry added. "We feed off of that. It was great to see him make his first shot. Get a dunk. Just reassert himself on the floor. It was awesome to see." 

On that dunk, Curry said to Andrews that being able to dunk was the last thing he would be able to showcase. That it was going to take a while for him to do that. It took just nine minutes into his first game back for Thompson to show that he had that ability to dunk again.   

On that night though in New York City, Thompson was not there to witness Curry etched his name once again into the NBA record books as rehabbing to get back on the floor.

When asked by a reporter how much of a challenge it has been rehabbing first his torn ACL and then his Achilles, Thompson said it is “way harder” than any other basketball game he has ever had to play.

That the “mental toll” is no fun at all. That you are always playing guessing games of whether you will ever be the same player that you once were.

On top of that, no one in professional sports, let alone the NBA has attempted to try to do what Thompson is attempting. To come back after two devastating injuries.

The other silver lining is that Thompson is coming back to a team that is close to the championship caliber squads he was a part of the last time he was fully healthy.

A very deep, talented, high character, motivated, focused team whose at the top of the West, with the only goal being to win a championship. Which Thompson said made it even harder to sit on the sidelines and not be a part of it. Those few occasions during Warriors games Thompson can be seen stoically somber on the bench, at times having a towel over his head during games. But made him work with a serious vigor in his pregame workouts as he rehabbed to get back to join his teammates.”

Thompson took that same focus, along with his teammate James Wiseman, the No. 2 overall pick in 2020 draft whose also rehabbing a knee injury of his own in there rehab assignment with the Santa Cruz Warriors, Golden State’s G League affiliate.  

“It’s really rough having to sit there and watch because I enjoy playing so much,” Thompson said to Scott. “I’m used to being that guy whose always in the lineup and fast forward to now and I’m so proud of the way these guys played this year. It’s really incredible. Best record in the league or close to it.”

“It’s super inspiring for me to come back to a team that wants to win the championship. That’s super exciting. I can’t wait to get out there and help these guys.”

Then there’s the motivation of proving he should have been named to the NBA’s 75^th Anniversary list, which Thompson did not make when it was announced back in late October, which Curry did make.

Thompson said to Scott that not being named one of the top 75 players in NBA history did bother him at the time because of the body of work he had put forward along with doing things on the hardwood that had never been done before.  

On Jan. 23, 2015 versus the Sacramento Kings, Thompson set the NBA record for points in a quarter with 37 on a perfect 13/13 from the field, which included making nine threes.

Dec. 5, 2016 versus the Indiana Pacers, Thompson scored his career-high 60 points in 29 minutes, the fewest minutes that a player needed to register 60 points in the 24-second shot clock era (1954-55). Thompson scored 40 of those 60 points in the first half and did not play in the fourth quarter.

Oct. 29, 2018 at the Chicago Bulls, Thompson made a single-game NBA record 14 three-pointers in just three quarters of work.

Jan. 21, 2019 at Los Angeles Lakers, Thompson made his first 10 three-pointers, which according to Elias Sports Bureau set an NBA record.

Thompson told Scott though that not making the Top 75 is no longer important to him and that the only things matters to him is winning.

“Numbers, all that’s cool. But banners hang forever and by any means necessary, I want to get back there and do it again. And we have the team to do it,” Thompson said. “Snubbed from that list and win a championship, that, inspires me every day.”

Three years ago, the Golden State Warriors and Klay Thompson were looking to remain atop the NBA mountain. In the closing moments of Game 6 of the 2019 Finals, the Warriors were dethroned as reigning back-to-back champions and lost Thompson not just for the season before to a torn ACL in his left but also last season with a torn right Achilles.

On the verge of his 32^nd birthday, Klay Thompson on Sunday night took the first step of what he hopes is a storybook comeback where he comes as close to the dynamic sharpshooter and clampdown defender he once was. But understands it will not happen right away.

“I don’t’ have any expectations for my play this year,” Thompson said of what he expects from now until the end of this season. “I’m going into this year with a clean slate and all I’m telling myself to do is play hard every night. Play unselfish, be aggressive.”

“I’m shooting the ball phenomenally right now. Now I know it’s going to take time to make 14 threes in a game or 10 in a row. Whatever that is. I will never lose faith in my jumper. It was always my bread and butter.”

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 1/3/2022 3 p.m. “NBA Today” ESPN With Malika Andrews, Matt Barnes, Ramona Shelburne, Adrian Wojnarowski, and Marc J. Spears; 1/9/2022 8 p.m. NBATV’s “Pregame Show,” presented by Carmax With Jared Greenberg, Greg Anthony, and Steve Smith, and Dennis Scott; 1/10/2022 12 a.m. ESPN’s “Sportscenter” With Michael Eaves and John Anderson; 1/10/2022 12 a.m. NBATV’s “Gametime,” presented by Kia With Jarden Greenberg, Greg Anthony, and Steve Smith; 1/10/2022 3 p.m. "NBA Today" ESPN with Malika Andrews, Matt Barnes, Chiney Ogwumike, Marc J. Spears, Adrian Wojnarowski, and Ramona Shelburne; and https://www.nba.com/game/cle-vs-gsw-0022100604.