Klay Thompson Reacts to Playing 40 Minutes for the First Time in 3 Years

Klay Thompson cherishes the little things in life but Friday brought something very special to the Warriors star.

Despite falling to the hosting Atlanta Hawks 121-110 after nearly rallying back from an 18-point deficit, Thompson did something he hadn’t achieved in nearly three years — he played 40 minutes in an NBA game.

““That’s a big win for me,” Thomson said after the game. “I can’t remember the last time I played 40 minutes. Maybe the 2019 playoffs. That is a huge milestone for myself and something that I will build on.”

Klay on playing 40 minutes: "That is a huge milestone for myself and something I will build on" pic.twitter.com/1gxarSMiZj
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 26, 2022

Thompson, who returned in early January after missing two full seasons with an ACL and Achilles tendon injury, has been on a minutes restriction after being eased back into the rotation. Until Friday, he had stayed in the low-30-minute range with last week’s game against the San Antonio Spurs coming as the lone exception where he played 38 minutes in a narrow loss.

Without starting point guard Stephen Curry (foot), however, Thompson’s services have become more of a necessity for Golden State. As a result, head coach Steve Kerr chose to keep his hot-shooting 2-guard in for all but eight minutes of the game.

The result was a 37-point performance for Thompson— just one off of his season high (38). He also striped nine threes, something he hadn’t done since the 2018-19 season.

“Honestly, I kind of did [know this game was coming],” Thompson said. “It’s such a vivid memory for me last year when I was here and I was rehabbing. I was in the hallway and we were going through a similar type of slump where things may not have been going our way.

“it just felt like such de ja vu that it made me so appreciative of being here and being healthy and being able to play and seeing all the Warriors fans,” Thompson continued. “It just really humbled me and made me so grateful. It kind of relaxed me, too. I press, I’m probably my biggest critic and when I felt that, I was like ‘wow,’ I pat myself on the back like ‘gosh, that was a lot of work to get here to this point.’ I’m just grateful.”