Klay Thompson’s Return Was 941 Days in the Making

“I will never forget the reception that Warriors fans gave us, especially myself. Gosh it was fun and it was worth every single day of being away and in that squat rack or on that shuttle board and all the conditioning days. It was worth every single moment. … I am not going to say equivalent to winning a championship. But man, it was pretty freaking close.” – Klay Thompson

Injuries suck, plain and simple! And that’s why on January 9 I had an ear-to-ear grin watching the Golden State Warriors introduce their starters against the Cleveland Cavaliers, which finally included Klay Thompson, who had been out of action for 941 days after tearig his ACL in 2019 and then his Achilles tendon in 2020.

Klay Thompson scored 17 points in 20 minutes in his return, which is a good sign for the Warriors and his future! But what stood out to me the most How excited EVERYONE was to have Klay back on the court. The Chase Center was LOUD during his introduction, all his teammates arrived in his #11 jersey, the Warriors named yesterday ‘Klay Day.’ And also, how excited HE WAS to be back on the court.

It was awesome to see Klay Thompson get a well-deserved hero’s welcome!

“I will never forget the reception that Warriors fans gave us, especially myself,” Thompson said after the game. “Gosh it was fun and it was worth every single day of being away and in that squat rack or on that shuttle board and all the conditioning days. It was worth every single moment.

I am not going to say equivalent to winning a championship,” Thompson added of what it all felt like. “But man, it was pretty freaking close.”

This serves as a great reminder to all players and everyone out there:

Appreciate every single minute you get on the basketball court… and in life

…because you never know when the game or life itself will be taken away from you.

The reality is that players could go down with an injury tomorrow that forces them to take several years off like Klay, or (worst case) puts them on the sideline permanently. Injuries have ruined the careers of many super-talented players, including Pete Maravich, Brandon Roy, Jay Williams, Greg Oden, Yao Ming and many others. So, PLEASE make the most of every minute you have, whether you play basketball or not!