Klay Thompson's return to the court continues to draw closer, as he has been cleared for full contact in practice and has run behind-the-scenes scrimmages with the Warriors' G League affiliate in recent weeks.
Steph Curry was asked by The Athletic's Anthony Slater about his observations from Klay's on-court work, and expressed relief that his fellow Splash Brother has not lost his shot in his two-plus years away from the floor.
"Thank god he still remembers how to shoot the ball," Curry said to reporters after the Warriors' 118-96 win over the Phoenix Suns on Friday night at Chase Center. "That hasn't changed at all, seems like he's got a good pep in his step and good energy out there, just his body movements and all that. It's hard to get a feel for the speed and intensity of when we watch it on film, they showed a highlight package of his second scrimmage they had down in Santa Cruz and some of, well most of his shots it looked like he was just out there confident having fun knocking them down.
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"I know he talks about his wind and obviously he's been out for as long as he has, that's going to take time. I think the good part about just seeing him commit to what this process is is that it's working and he's feeling a little bit more and more like himself with every rep he gets. Then when it's time to translate that to getting him back in real game settings, he'll be ready. So it's great to see."
Thompson was assigned to Santa Cruz along with James Wiseman earlier this week to get some practices in while the Warriors were on a road trip.
The timeline on exactly when he will make his long-awaited return to the lineup remains murky. During one of his widely-loved Instagram Live sessions from his boat on Friday, Thompson said he hopes to be back in a few weeks "or a month."
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Steve Kerr told 95.7 The Game on Friday that Klay's return "is a matter of weeks," but that this final stretch will be among the most difficult of Klay's 29 months on the shelf.
Golden State Warriors
"He's in good spirits, he had a great weekend in Santa Cruz," Kerr said. "It's wonderful to see him happy and playing, but these last few weeks are going to be maybe the hardest time of all because he feels like he is ready to play right now. So he is still anxious to get out there."
The one thing the Warriors have officially said is that Klay's first game back will come at home inside Chase Center. Including Saturday night's game against the San Antonio Spurs, the Warriors have six home games remaining in the month of December. The Warriors will host the Orlando Magic (Dec. 6), Portland Trail Blazers (Dec. 8), Kings (Dec. 20), Memphis Grizzlies (Dec. 23) and Denver Nuggets (Dec. 28) before the end of the calendar year.
It will be appointment viewing whenever Thompson finally makes that Chase Center debut. Steph and his teammates clearly like what they have seen from his scrimmages, and will be elated when Klay walks onto the floor in full uniform under the lights once again.