Klay Thompson is ready to return to the court in December-January after a two-year absence from the league. Two NBA years are a lot for plenty of people. Many things can change within that span, and the past two seasons are the prime sample of that.
The Splash Brother sadly suffered two consecutive season-ending injuries, starring in two of the most heartbreaking moments in the association recently. Now Klay is getting ready to help the Golden State Warriors play for important things again. Still, the shooting guard will enter a very different league to the one he left when he suffered a torn right Achilles’ tendon in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Twitter account ‘The Lead’ recently recalled how the NBA looked like the last time Klay took part in a game. Signaling five different players, they showed the differences between the league in 2019 and 2021.
The last time Klay Thompson played an NBA game: pic.twitter.com/dc1oJAqYcI
— The Lead (@TheLeadSM) September 28, 2021
At the time, Anthony Davis was still part of the New Orleans Pelicans. He would be traded to the Los Angeles Lakers that summer in a blockbuster deal. Now AD is an NBA champion after winning the title with the purple and gold in the bubble.
Kawhi Leonard was part of the Toronto Raptors team that beat Klay’s Warriors in the Finals. After that, he signed with the Los Angeles Clippers. Chris Paul was a member of the Houston Rockets. The Texans would trade him to the Oklahoma City Thunder, where he exceeded again, then signing with Phoenix to lead the Suns to the NBA Finals last year.
Jimmy Butler was part of the very exciting Philadelphia 76ers that were one Kawhi Leonard buzzer-beater away from playing in the Eastern Conference Finals. That summer, Jimmy joined the Miami Heat, playing the 2020 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Russell Westbrook played his last season with the Oklahoma City Thunder that year. He ended an 11-year tenure in OKC after the team sent him to Houston in exchange for Chris Paul. He then went to the Washington Wizards for John Wall and now is part of the exciting Los Angeles Lakers.
Things have changed a lot in the past two years, as some fans pointed out. The past three offseasons have been very entertaining, with several players leaving their franchises at the moment.
He wasn’t in the nba yet !!! pic.twitter.com/naGpdZqFq2
— laloNF (@lalonequiz0771) September 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/DaBaspo/status/1443225758101540876https://twitter.com/joel_s0/status/1443269057399119873
He finna come back like captain America after getting unfroze😭
— Tristy (@tristybandz) September 29, 2021
He’s not even gonna know where he is lol
— GLDNGWD (@gldngwd) September 29, 2021
All of them been in the Finals since then too other than Kawhi and he was there the year Klay went down. Crazy to think about
— mookie (@_KingMook) September 29, 2021
3/4 been to the finals since and the 4th was in the finals that year against him, that's wild as fuck
— The Black Sheep (@Yourhighness032) September 29, 2021
The crazy thing is they all have been to the finals or was in the finals when he last played
— Certified Prettyboy (@ki_load1ng) September 29, 2021
This is actually wild to think about
— Trevon🕷👑 (@TreyBaucom_) September 29, 2021
https://twitter.com/BullsEra21/status/1443584064686989324
Woah. Time flies so fast
— Lebron Hoops (@LBJ23326) September 30, 2021
As someone said, it looks like Klay will play in a new NBA. Even the Warriors aren’t the same team that played in the Finals that year. Still, they hope to see a vintage version of the shooting guard that can take them to the big series after a two-year absence.
