UK: 18+ USA: 21+ | Begambleaware.org | T&Cs apply | Play Responsibly
After nearly two years and two different injures that kept him off the court, Klay Thompson is officially near to getting back on the court, right on time to strengthen the championship hopes of the in-form Golden State Warriors.
So, let’s take a quick look at the potential timeline for his return and how will that affect the Warriors who are currently sitting on top of the Western Conference standings.
When Will Klay Thompson Be Back?
At the moment, Klay Thompson is training with Santa Cruz Warriors in Golden State’s G-League affiliate and, according to some reports, he is already good to go, but he first wants to get his conditioning back even more. So, the official timetable for his return is still somewhere around or just after Christmas.
[Right now, Klay] could play 25-30 minutes in an NBA game. He’s ready to do that. But what Klay wants … is to be conditioned at a very high level.”@wojespn says Klay Thomspon’s timeline for return remains just ahead of Christmas, or slightly after. pic.twitter.com/Bfmyj7oM7u
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) December 4, 2021
One of the best shooters in the history of the league first went down with a torn ACL in Game Six of the 2018-2019 NBA Finals against Toronto Raptors. After a successful surgery, he missed the entire 2019-2020 NBA season to recover.
Even before he came back on the court, Thompson suffered an Achilles tendon injury in November of 2020 in a pick-up game in Los Angeles, which ruled him out of the entire 2020-2021 season.
What Can We Expect from Thompson When He Comes Back?
After spending so much time away from the court with two of the most serious injuries in basketball, it’s clear that Thompson will have to be eased back into the team. Certain minutes restrictions will likely be applied, most probably in the 20-25 minutes per game area. On top of this, Thompson will likely miss back-to-back matches at first, or maybe even for the entire season.
It’s certain that Warriors will take an extremely cautious approach when it comes to bringing Thompson back, especially since the team is doing great at the moment and leading the entire league with a record of 19 wins and 4 losses.
In any case, getting back the other Splash Brother will make it much easier for Steph Curry, who is already carrying his team with MVP performances. As we’ve seen in the past, Thompson’s mere presence can elevate Curry’s game to even greater heights as he is a constant scoring threat and he thrives along Curry since he doesn’t need to have the ball in his hands almost at all – except for shooting.
Whether Thompson can return to the form that put him in a conversation for an all-time great is another question. Many players failed to get back to their best after such injuries, but some of them did, like Thompson’s former teammate Kevin Durant.
So, while we wait for Thompson to be back so we can enjoy his game again, here’s a short clip of Thompson’s most memorable performances to remind us of what he’s capable of.
Subscribe to Punditfeed on Google News for all the latest updates from the world of sports!
