Klay Thompson still has a way to go before playing without restrictions this season. Lingering fallout from his pair of major lower-body injuries persisted into training camp and the exhibition slate, with Thompson not scrimmaging until a week before the Golden State Warriors regular season opener and taking the floor for the first time in their preseason finale. Steve Kerr and team medical staff are ramping the veteran up toward his normal playing load as a result, with Thompson unlikely to notch more than 20 minutes in his team's tilt with the Denver Nuggets on Friday night.
Still, considering how well he acquitted himself under the same limits in the Warriors' blowout win over the Los Angeles Lakers on ring night, don't be shocked if Thompson makes subtle progress toward his individual goal against the Nuggets regardless.
On All The Smoke with former Warriors Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Thompson revealed that his personal objective in 2022-23 is to get back to the All-Star Game for the sixth time in his career.
“I wanna be an All-Star again. I'm used to what I know, and to be able to make those games and be considered one of the best in the world, it's the coolest. No better feeling. I just wanna be able to experience that again,” he said. “All-NBA is always great, but I don't wanna put that pressure on myself. If I play like I'm know I'm capable of, I should be an NBA All-Star. And to go through what I did and be able to accomplish that, that's a big goal of mine. That's a big goal of mine.”
Thompson played 19 minutes and 39 seconds in the season opener, shooting 6-of-13 overall and 2-of-6 from beyond the arc en route to 18 points, two rebounds, three assists and a steal. The widespread expectation coming into this season is that he'd be better than he was a year ago, largely due to the common assumption that most players recovering from serious injury need a season's worth of play to re-acclimate to the speed and physicality of the NBA game before reaching their prior peak.
It remains to be seen if Thompson will ever scrape those pre-injury heights. He's 32, after all, clearly at least a half step slower than he was prior to tearing his ACL and rupturing his Achilles tendon—a development that could've come even if Thompson had remained fully healthy.
But all-time shooters like Thompson never lose their touch from the outside, and he admitted on All The Smoke his body is still catching up to his mind. Thompson fared well defensively against Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the back half of the NBA Finals, too. All signs point to him being more impactful and consistent on both ends in 2022-23 once Kerr and company take the leash off.
If that proves the case? Klay Thompson won't just prove ever pivotal on the Warriors' quest for consecutive championships, but get back to where he belongs during All-Star weekend.
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