The Golden State Warriors are lovable and plucky. The Warriors had a couple of tough seasons, one of which ended in disappointment and the other of which was a terrible one.
The Warriors did not finish with a worse winning percentage than.595 for six consecutive seasons. The Warriors are tied for the second-best record in the NBA.
They were trying to impersonate the end of the 20th century New York Yankees by going for four titles in five seasons when injury struck. Thompson stayed in the Bay Area with his knee injury, while KD left the Warriors for the Brooklyn Nets to rehabilitate his injury on the East Coast. The Warriors had their worst season since Dave Cowens was their coach after a hand injury to Curry.
The Warriors were supposed to return to glory in the 2020-21 season, but Thompson blew out an achilles just one month before the season started. Prior to Sunday night, the last time that Thompson played in an NBA game, Kevin Durant was with the Warriors, Russell Westbrook was with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Anthony Davis was with the New Orleans Pelicans, Antonio Brown was with the Oakland Raiders, and the atmosphere was not littered.
NBATV aired Thompson's player introduction in San Francisco on Sunday. He was introduced last, the music was stopped, and he received a hero's welcome.
In the NBA Finals, Thompson scored 30 points on 66.7 percent shooting from the field and 3-point line, made two free throws, and begged to stay in the game with a torn knee cap. Thompson shot 38.9 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three. He made his first shot and then crossed over to the Cleveland Cavaliers' Jarrett Allen and dunked on him.
One of the craziest regular-season games of all time was on NBC, but those of us who had NBATV going on our second screen were treated to a rare feel-good moment from a franchise that used to be.
The best in the world compete in sports. It is more than reasonable to feel bad for Thompson because of the Warriors dominance. He had to deal with both the knee and the ankle injuries in the last two and a half years. Sports fans lost out on seeing greatness because they didn't want to feel that.
There is little in sports when the Warriors are rolling. The NBA is not as good of a product without the Warriors operating at max capacity.
It appears that they are. The Warriors have already established themselves as a championship contender, so there is no pressure on Thompson to perform.
Fans of the Suns, Nets, and Lakers may be afraid of what will happen from the Warriors in the playoffs, but they should at least appreciate that. Klay Thompson is playing basketball. That is about as normal as you can get.
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