For Warriors fans, it sounds like Christmas is going to come early.
Recent reports indicate that Klay Thompson should be returning to the court near the end of December, finally bringing a close to a two-plus year odyssey of brutal injury luck.
Longtime Warriors reporter Marcus Thompson hopped on KNBR Tuesday morning, and gave his best guess regarding when Klay will make his triumphant return.
“I think before Christmas and at home,” Thompson began with Murph & Mac. “That December 23 game looks pretty good, but I actually think it will be the game before that. You know what would be great, what would be fitting? They come off that road trip and then they play the Kings at home. Wouldn’t that be fitting for Klay to come back at home against the Kings?”
Golden State hosts Sacramento on Monday, December 20. Warriors fans will remember that the Kings were victim to Thompson’s NBA record 37-point quarter on January 23, 2015. What better way to ring in this next chapter of Thompson’s career?
“I do think it will be that home stretch before Christmas day,” Thompson continued. “I’ve been saying this for a while, if you watch Klay you can just see he can’t wait to play. This is two years of build up, I just don’t see him sitting out the Christmas game, but I don’t think it’s going to be his first game either.
“Unless something happens, unless he ramps it up and he says he’s not feeling that great…there’s no way he misses Christmas and there’s no way they bring him back on the road, so it’s got to be that little stretch right before Christmas.”
When Klay returns it will be the first time he’s played in a professional basketball game since Game 6 of the NBA Finals on June 13, 2019. When he does return, it will be the biggest Warriors home game since then, and the biggest ever game at Chase Center.
“If we had a pool going down, I’m putting my 25 cents on the Kings game.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can listen to every KNBR interview on our podcast page at knbr.com/podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.
Catch Murph & Mac weekdays from 6 – 10 a.m. on KNBR 104.5 / 680 and streaming live on KNBR.com.