The Golden State Warriors have been the most dominant team in the NBA thus far this season. They currently have the best record in the NBA at 15-2 and are near the top of every statistical category in the league.
Golden State has Stephen Curry playing at an MVP level once again to pace the team. Draymond Green has refound his love for the game and is motivated by his family and to show people that he is the best defender in the league.
Complementary pieces such as Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole are also playing well. Wiggins is tapping into the two-way potential that made him the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and coming into his own. Poole has turned things around after a brutal rookie season in 2019-20 with some huge scoring nights.
It is hard to imagine the Golden State Warriors getting much better than the level they are playing at now, but they will certainly have the chance to achieve that once Klay Thompson returns to the court. Thompson has not played in an NBA game in over two years, with his last appearance being in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Is Andrew Wiggins Reaching His Potential With Warriors?
In that game, he tore his ACL and a little over a year later he ruptured his Achilles. It has been a long, tumultuous road back, but Klay Thompson is nearing a return. He was recently cleared to take part in full practices and spoke about what it was like to be back on the court in such a capacity in more than two years.
“It’s so exciting,” Thompson said. “Just to be running up and down the court and playing basketball, it’s truly a blessing and it makes coming to work so easy. The boring stuff’s behind me, and now it’s just getting back in game shape — I got to stay patient because I can be an overeager person to get out there and play, but I’m just incredibly grateful to be out there. The work the training staff and I have done over the last two years is really paying off, and it’s hard to put into words how grateful I am to be playing basketball again.”
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Is Andrew Wiggins Reaching His Potential With Warriors?
It is hard enough coming back from one major injury, but Thompson will be returning from two. It will take some time for him to adjust to the speed of the game and knock the rust off; there is only so much that can be replicated in practice compared to the actual speed of an NBA game.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Is Andrew Wiggins Reaching His Potential With Warriors?
It may take a little while, but Thompson wants to return at the top of his game and return to the upper echelon of shooting guards.
“I don’t want to come back and be a shell of myself,” Thompson said. “I want to come back like I was the last time I was playing and I was one of the best players in the world.”
If Klay Thompson can produce at the level he was before the injury, the rest of the NBA will be in trouble. The Golden State Warriors are already thriving without him. With him, they could be looking to reset some records this season.
