Klay Thompson returned to the court for the first time in two years on Sunday night. It’s coming at a great time in the season where the Warriors have dropped a few winnable games and in the midst of a Steph Curry slump. This is exactly what the team needs to motivate themselves, a healthy and ready-to-go sharpshooter with experience in making deep championship runs. So, before the 3-time champion returns in full force let’s look back at some of his greatest moments as a Golden State Warrior.

#1 Game 6 Klay

During the Warriors’ finals runs from 2015-2019, Klay was always looked at as the second or third option because of the guys he had around him. But what is now more iconic and deadly than Game 6 Klay Thompson? The nickname was born after Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals in 2016 against the Thunder. He would torch Oklahoma City for 41 points on 11 made threes, the most in a playoff game in NBA history. This eruption would lead the Dubs to a game seven where they would complete a 3-1 comeback against the Thunder to reach the finals. We would see Game 6 Klay two more times, once against Houston in the 2018 Western Conference Finals where Klay would score 35 points on nine three-pointers made, helping them to come back from down 17 and force another game 7. And again in 2019 where he would score 30 points in 32 minutes before getting injured.

#2 60 points in 29 minutes

On December 5. 2016, Klay would score a career-high of 60 points on only 11 dribbles. He achieved such a feat by only playing 29 minutes in the game where he only had the basketball for 90 seconds. That night fans witnessed a true sharpshooter in his purest form. His 60 helped the Warriors build a 30 plus point lead in the third quarter alone to beat the Pacers. After the game fans had no choice but to put him in the greatest shooter conversation as he proved he can score any way, even without dribbling.

#3 37 points in a quarter

One of, if not the best scoring outputs we have seen from Klay ever. Early in the Warriors’ rise to glory, on January 23rd, 2015, Thompson channeled his inner Warrior and took over the third quarter against the Kings. There were nine minutes and forty-five seconds to go when he started his scoring rampage. He would hit a mid-range jumper, then two threes in a row, then catch a lob from Curry to dunk home 10 points as the barrage just kept coming. Every shot he took went in and every player on the court knew where the ball was going but couldn’t stop it. He ended the quarter with 50 points but 37 of them came from just that third quarter alone.

#4 14 threes in a game

In a game versus the Bulls on October 29th, 2018, Klay would set the all-time record for threes made in one game. He would score 52 points and make 14 three-pointers, surpassing his backcourt duo Steph who had 13 for the number one spot. He also only played three quarters, leaving some to wonder if he could’ve made anywhere close to twenty threes made before the game was over. It was also the birth of headband Klay, as somewhere after the second quarter he had been scratched on the head and chose to wear a headband in game. Apparently, it helped him accomplish history as that record still stands alone today.

#5 43 points on 4 dribbles

Another game proving that he doesn’t need to dribble to score, Klay would dribble only four times in a January 9th, 2019, game against the Knicks. These four dribbles would get him 43 points and a 25-point win. 18 buckets on 4 dribbles is a crazy stat to think about, most guys need to dribble to get separation to score. But not Klay, when he catches the ball all he needs is a little bit of daylight and a good pass. The fact that he could break out at any moment and score at such a high level, without dribbling the ball angered some fans. He was the third option and could do that? That’s when the league knew their chances were as good as gone at a championship.

#6 Three-point Contest Winner in 2016

Every Warrior fan and just NBA fan in general loved the 2016 All-Star game and the contests that came with it. The Three-point Contest was no different as it saw many high-level shooters participating, JJ Redick, Kyle Lowry, and Khris Middleton to name a few. But the main attraction was the matchup between Klay and Curry. In the final round Curry scored 23 and Klay took the challenge and scored 27 to win the Three-Point Contest. It proved to be an All-Star week that many Dubs fans will never forget.

#7 2016 Gold Medal

Again in 2016 Klay would acquire some hardware, but this time in the Olympics. With a loaded roster including guys like Draymond Green, Harrison Barnes, Kevin Durant, Demar DeRozan, and others, the team would make it all the way to the gold medal game. It would be here that they would defeat the Bojan Bogdanovic-led Serbia team by 30 points. Securing Klay and his teammates the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro.

#8 Making two free throws on a torn ACL

The most recent game we've seen Klay in, Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals. Klay was on route to having another Game 6 Klay performance when all of a sudden, he landed awkwardly on his leg after attempting a dunk and getting fouled. He would try to walk it off, but after the Kevin Durant injury, the Warriors wanted to be safe and take him to the locker room to be looked at. But in classic Klay Thompson fashion, someone yelled at him, “If you don’t shoot these free throws, you won’t be able to come back in the game.” In what was the loudest eruption of applause from Oracle Arena, Klay walked back out on the court and sank two free throws and got back on defense. But was later taken out because of injury. A true Warrior.

#9 Comeback Klay

This last moment is one for the future. As fans anxiously wait for his full return to his old self, we can only assume that Sunday night’s game will be the first step in a multiple-step return for the second half of the Splash Brothers. Every Dub fan knows that Klay will make his return to his old self and possibly be even better than he once was. It is only a matter of when not if for the second greatest shooter of all time and a true Warrior, that fans will always love no matter what.

(Photo credit: Thearon W. Henderson / Getty)