Subscribe
Follow Us
Klay Thompson’s ramp up toward his typical level of playing time is over. He’s averaged just over 32 minutes in the Golden State Warriors’ last seven games, just a couple less than the 32-year-old got in 2018-19 before injuries took away two-and-half seasons of his prime.
Thompson knows he’ll never be the player he was before going down with an ACL tear and ruptured Achilles tendon on his left and right sides, respectively. Still re-acclimating to the NBA game after not playing 5-on-5 until a week before tipoff of 2022-23, though, Thompson is also fully confident that early-season labors — both his own and his team’s — will soon subside.
“The best I ever felt was in 2019. I know I can’t get back there, but even if I get to 90 percent of that — still a hell of a player,” he told Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. “Still a hell of a championship team.”
Golden State is 6-8 entering Wednesday’s road matchup with the Phoenix Suns, Thompson’s struggles at least contributing to a rough start for the defending champions best explained by reserve units hemorrhaging points on the scoreboard.
Steve Kerr might have found the beginnings of a workable playing rotation, though, and Thompson drained a season-beat five triples the last time he took the floor. Are the floodgates opening for he and the Warriors?
Even if they don’t in the desert, Thompson won’t be discouraged. It was just a few months ago, after all, but that he led Golden State in minutes during the playoffs, playing a pivotal two-way role in the fourth championship of a dynasty that’s somehow still going.
“That inspired me a lot to just keep going,” Thompson said of his performance during the Warriors’ title run. “It’s like, ‘I’m right there…I know I’ll do it again.”
