It won’t just be Klay Thompson returning when he suits up for the Warriors at the Chase Center on Sunday night. He will bring with him an enduring piece of the team’s spirit, its bond with the supporters, its dedication to the game, and its delight in competing.

Considering that Stephen Curry, the team’s star, is a player of a generation. Given that it has Draymond Green as its mouthpiece, Kevin Durant, and a well-known coach, Thompson holds a unique place in the hearts of Warriors supporters and the team’s culture.

While Thompson has been recovering from two career-threatening injuries for the past two and a half years, his relationship with the team and its supporters has only grown stronger. If his name is heard above the raucous applause, it will be evident as soon as he is named one of the starting.

Basketball misses Klay, regardless of how you view him—as a close friend, a teammate, or a member of your favorite team—said former teammate Zaza Pachulia last week. “Klay needs to be on the court for basketball.” I’m excited to see him, experience the excitement, and celebrate his return.

On June 13, 2019, the initial blow to the body occurred. The Warriors will always remember Game 6 of the NBA Finals as the night they lost Durant, lost the championship, and lost Klay Thompson and their hold on the top spot in the league.

Days before training camp began in November 2020, following 17 months of rehabilitation for a ruptured ACL in his left knee, Thompson tore the Achilles tendon in his right leg. His thirty-two-year-old battle-scarred legs will get him to the ground.

“I’ll cry,” Sheronna Good, a supporter of the Warriors, said. “This will be his very first basket. I’m going to cry and dance around my room.

The return of Thompson strikes a very personal chord with a large number of Warriors supporters who have grown to adore the modest, unassuming player over the past ten years.

Warriors supporter Isaac Wheeler stated, “Klay’s return signifies a larger moment of hope and renewal.” “Despite the difficult and tumultuous circumstances we’ve gone through recently, we’ve held out hope for better times to come. Everyone can be inspired by the way Klay handled the disappointment of missing so many games with grace and brightness.

Why will the return arouse such strong feelings? Why is Thompson so beloved by Warriors fans? Let’s tally the methods.

37 points in the quarter

On January 23, 2015, Thompson scored 37 points by making all 13 of his shots, including nine straight from beyond the 3-point arc, en way to a career-high 52 points. It was the best quarter of basketball in NBA history.

“As far as the relationship between the player and the supporters and what was going on on the court go, it’s still the most incredible experience I’ve had in my six years of coaching. In an interview from 2020, head coach Steve Kerr stated, “I’m not kidding.” “I hope I’m not exaggerating, but it felt almost like a religious experience.”

The inaugural title

The Warriors, led by Thompson and Steph Curry—nicknamed the Splash Brothers for their skill at long-range shooting—made an incredible run to the top of the NBA following a 40-year hiatus that encompassed many, many terrible seasons.

In Oklahoma City, Game 6

Thompson put on one of the most memorable performances in NBA postseason history as the 73-9 Warriors were about to lose in the Western Conference finals.

Golden State was down eight points going into the fourth quarter and losing the series 3–2. Thompson scored 19 of his 41 points, including a splashdown three, to put the Warriors ahead 104–101. They prevailed 108–101.

“This is your time,” Stephanie informed me before I left in the fourth,” Thompson recalled. “I pondered over those remarks.”

Man’s closest companion

A couple of months after Thompson was selected by the Warriors with the 11th overall choice in the 2011 NBA Draft, the Washington State graduate brought Rocco home, a French bulldog that has been his steady companion for ten years.

Rocco’s notoriety has occasionally eclipsed that of his owner. He appears in public, has starred in advertisements for this news outlet, and was named after a shoe that was produced in limited supply and had his face hidden beneath the strap.

Thompson stated to the Bay Area News Group in 2018 that “dogs are just simple beings.” All they want is love, playtime, and some goodies. I’m a simple man, too.

11 dribbles for 60 points

On December 5, 2016, Thompson defeated the Indiana Pacers and set a career-high with 60 points in less than 30 minutes, in one of the league’s finest catch-and-shoot performances ever.

Curry stated, “I’d wager that’s a feat that will probably never be surpassed in the annals of basketball.”

Only Kobe Bryant’s 62 points in a game from 2005 had more points than Thompson’s 60 through three quarters. However, no one could equal this achievement: Thompson needed 11 dribbles to score his 60 points.

A new NBA record is set with 14 3-pointers.

Curry has made more three-pointers in a season than any other player in history. But Thompson has made more than anyone else in a single game. In a Chicago game in 2018, he scored fourteen. With ten points in the first half, he closed the gap on Curry’s record by three.

“At halftime, Steph glanced at the box score and said, ‘Go get it.'” Thompson summarized.  And that just serves to highlight his selflessness.

And the free throws in Game 6

After being fouled during a dunk attempt in the third quarter of Game 6 against Toronto, Thompson sat under the basket, clutching his left knee. He stood up and exited the court. Just as abruptly as he had vanished inside the tunnel, he emerged and moved toward the free-throw line. He would attempt both free throws and succeed.

Then, with a knee that would require surgery and keep him out of action for the next 15 months, he returned to playing defense.

“Klay is insane, to put it mildly,” Draymond Green remarked following the game.