Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson is not expected to play this season, but the five-time All-Star is inspiring some optimism nonetheless as he rehabs from a torn ACL suffered during last year's NBA Finals.

Thompson had some fun during Sunday's practice, dressing up in full uniform and knocking down some catch-and-shoot threes:

The 29-year-old has remained engaged wth his Warriors teammates despite the injury. Thompson even joined Draymond Green in jawing with Dallas Mavericks big man Kristaps Porzingis on Saturday night.

Players and coaches around the league acknowledge that the NBA is not nearly as competitive without the Warriors in the fold, and James Harden said recently that basketball is “missing” Thompson and fellow “Splash Brother” Stephen Curry (via Dalton Johnson of NBC Sports Bay Area):

“The world and the game is missing obviously Steph and Klay,” Harden said to reporters after Houston's loss. “Obviously the game is missing them, obviously their fans are missing them. It would have been, obviously, a great, competitive game — they beat us without them, so for us we gotta regroup.”

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It was initially expected that the Warriors would reevaluate Thompson sometime around the All-Star break.

However, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said back in October that Thompson was “unlikely” to take the floor for the Dubs, in part because it usually takes up to 12 months to successfully recover from an ACL injury. Obviously, that would push Thompson's timeline back into June.

Still, it is fun to see Thompson partaking in some basketball activities as fans await his eventual return.

 

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