Warriors starters share thoughts on Klay's scrimmage
It’s been a little over a month since we heard the news that Warriors’ guard Klay Thompson was cleared for full practice.
The anticipation of the inevitable return of Thompson got fans excited, as the return date speculation continued to gain more traction. Is he going to return around Christmas? Or is it the first week of January?
Christmas came and went, and now the anticipated return date is speculated to be in January.
On Dec. 30, the Warriors were scheduled to face the Nuggets, but with the Nuggets not having the required eight players, the game was postponed.
Thus, the Warriors turned this into an opportunity for Thompson to practice alongside the starters. A rare practice session in the middle of the season could be a critical stepping stone for Thompson’s return, as it gave the team a chance to build some chemistry.
“[Wiggins] and I were just talking about it after the game, and I kept on getting assists from him and I wasn’t even trying to look for him,” Warriors’ swingman Andre Iguodala said. “[Wiggins] was like ‘Bro he doesn’t dribble.’ I’m like ‘You know that’s going to open up for other guys.’ It’s just crazy.”
Warriors’ superstar Stephen Curry described Klay’s scrimmage.
“I think I counted like 17 [shots] in 12 minutes,” Curry said. “He shot over 50 percent.”
A lot has been made about what type of player Thompson might look like when he makes his eventual return. Earlier this season, Warriors’ forward Draymond Green mentioned how it’s unfair to expect him to return to his full capacity after missing two years of basketball.
But Curry continues to mention how much of a competitor Klay is and just getting a chance to see Klay back on the court would be an exciting thing to witness.
“We talked about it a little bit. It’s exciting,” Curry said. “It’s nothing other than just him getting back to playing basketball. That’s what we’re all looking forward too. He’s worked so hard and been through so much. For him to have an opportunity to play basketball again, and not be rehabbing and just enjoying himself. You can see it in his face, you know it’s close and that’s cool to watch.”
When asked about how to reimplement Klay back into the lineup, Head Coach Steve Kerr told reporters that Klay will start without missing a beat.
“Klay’s going to start when he comes back,” Kerr said. “I’m not going to mess around and bring him off the bench, I’m not doing any of that, he’s going to start. We’ll see what that means in terms of the rest of the rotation.”
At the end of the day, Thompson said that his return date is all up to Rick Celebrini, the director of sports medicine for the Warriors.
Videos of the scrimmages have been floating around social media, and during pre-game shootaround before the Warriors matchup versus the Jazz, Klay made 24 threes in a row.
With Thompson’s desire to make his return in front of fans at the Chase Center, the Warriors’ will have a couple of chances in the first few weeks of January.
(photo credit: Ezra Shaw / Getty )