Klay Thomson Reacts to Andre Iguodala's Near Return

The Golden State Warriors are optimistic that Andre Iguodala could return from his back injury as early as Monday night.

One person who may be more excited than anyone else on the team, though, is Klay Thompson

“That would be a welcomed sight,” Thompson said smiling after the Warriors’ 123-115 loss to the Washington Wizards Sunday. “I really miss playing with him.”

This season, the Golden State Warriors have only been able to play with Iguodala for a total of 25 games after the former NBA Finals MVP made his return to the Bay Area after spending the last two years in Miami.

Iguodala returned to the floor on Feb. 7 after missing eight games with a back injury. After playing for less than six minutes against the Oklahoma City Thunder, however, Iguodala re-aggravated his back, forcing him to miss Golden State’s last 20 games.

The good news for the Warriors — who are struggling in the absence of Stephen Curry — is that Iguodala could make his triumphant return to the lineup as early as Monday against the Memphis Grizzlies to complete a five-game road trip.

Thompson, unsurprisingly, can’t wait to see his battle-tested teammate in game-action once again.

“He’s so smart,” Thompson said. “He’s always in the right place defensively. Offensively, he does the same thing. He always makes the right plays. Knocking down clutch shots and just being Andre Iguodala.”

Iguodala was seen before Sunday’s game in Washington during shoot-around looking quite spry and ready to hit the floor once again. As Thompson said, it will be a welcomed sight as the Warriors could use as many available bodies as possible on the tail-end of a back-to-back.

Andre is looking good out there 👀 pic.twitter.com/EfzIajumgN
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 25, 2022

“He’s the Finals MVP,” Thompson said. “He’s been so valuable to this franchise and I’m just very excited he’s coming back.”