Golden State Warriors swingman Klay Thompson participated in a full team practice on Tuesday for the first time since tearing his left ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals and his right Achilles in November 2020.
“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.”
Thompson, who was cleared for 5-on-5 work with members of the Warriors’ support staff last week, has been in great spirits as his return to game action inches closer. While the Warriors have been hopeful that Thompson could return around Christmas, coach Steve Kerr reiterated Tuesday that no return date has been set and they want Thompson to continue to build up his strength and stamina after being off the floor for so long.
“We don’t have a target date,” Kerr said. “What we have is a number of weeks ahead of us for certain where we’re going to play it out, keep letting him scrimmage as often as possible so that he’ll build that endurance. And I would think within a few weeks we’ll be able to finally sort of get a target date, but we don’t have one right now.”
Teammate Kevon Looney noted how much “joy” Thompson’s first full practice in over two years brought the team.
“Klay looked good,” Looney said. “Especially for someone who had been out that long. You can still tell that he’s got work to do, and he’s been working hard, he looks good, he looks like an NBA player, he looks like a top-notch athlete already. So I’m excited to see him get back on the court. He gets better every day, every week, so I’m excited to see the next step he takes.”
Thompson, who said he doesn’t “fear getting hurt again” because of the “freak” nature of his past two injuries, said he has been motivated by critics who are doubting whether he and the Warriors can get back to the top.
Source-ESPN
