Klay Thompson will return for his first NBA game in over 900 days when the Golden State Warriors take on Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday. The five-time All-Star hasn’t played since suffering a torn ACL in his left knee in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals as Toronto clinched the championship. While rehabbing from surgery for that injury, he tore his right Achilles tendon scrimmaging on his own in November 2020.

Making his comeback official on social media, the Golden State star wrote “Bill Murray is my spirit animal” with a video from the movie Space Jam and Murray’s declaration of “Perhaps I could be of some assistance.” The team followed shortly thereafter with a formal release. 

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Thompson will start but with fewer minutes for now. Everyone plans to be patient.

“The game needs Klay, he’s one of the best shooters to ever play this game,” teammate Juan Toscano-Anderson said. “… The magnitude of this moment is so big.”

“When he comes back, if it’s tomorrow night, it will be one of the most emotional nights of my basketball life,” Kerr said prior to Thompson making it official.

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Son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson, Klay was selected in the first round of the 2011 NBA draft by Golden State with the 11th overall pick. He and Stephen Curry, in 2014, set a then-NBA record with 484 combined three-pointers in a season. The feat earned them the nickname of ‘the Splash Brothers’. 

Riding on Thomson’s brilliance, the Warriors won their first NBA Championship since 1975, in 2015. He played pivotal roles in their 2017 and 2018 title-winning campaigns. However, the 31-year-old missed the next two seasons with the ACL injury. 

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“We have such a great, deep team that I don’t need to come back and shoulder a huge load. We’re so deep and talented I can ease into things, which I’m really grateful for,” Thompson said

“I feel really good. Honestly, I give myself credit and give the training staff credit. There’s times throughout the lengthy process that you really doubt yourself if you’ll be the same type of player. When I come back, I feel like myself and feel great. I feel like it will take a few games or a few weeks to be an All-Star again.”