SALT LAKE CITY, UT — Did Klay Thompson tip his hand in the most overt way last night? During pregame warmups, Thompson got out of his seat as the Golden State Warriors finished their warmups while guys were shooting around (well past layup lines).
He not only did that, but took off his jacket at one point, set it down on the Warriors’ bench, and returned to rebound under the hoop:
Then, Klay took a ball from one of the ballboys and started to shoot the ball to himself. I thought he was going to shoot the ball from his seat, he looked so eager to play. That might’ve gone viral if he had:
Later in intros, he also missed on a high-five with Stephen Curry, but I guess that’s kind of irrelevant. I couldn’t help but mention it because, hey, this squad is loads of fun to cover:
Did Klay go rebound only because the arena setup of the Utah Jazz has seats bunched up closer to the floor, making you feel like part of the action? Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself?
But then again, the only available home games coming up are January 3rd, 9th and 18th. Also, Jordan Poole didn’t start.
We know this much for sure: Steve Kerr has repeatedly said Klay’s come back date is entirely up to head trainer Rick Celebrini. Thompson himself even added at the second practice in Denver two days ago that Celebrini would tell him one or two days prior to his return (he first said one, then later said “or two”):
And, now that I think about it, back in Denver, Poole said he wasn’t giving us media any information. Did he mean information on how Klay played in the scrimmage or when he’s coming back? If it’s the latter, then it has to be Monday, given the available dates. But technically, if Klay’s coming back Monday, that quip occurred beyond the two-day Celebrini buffer:
So if Klay is coming back on Monday vs the Miami Heat, he should already know by now. And as of last night. And if you know, then maybe you’re antsy and you get up and go rebound during warmups.
If he’s not coming back Monday, is Klay really gonna get up and rebound for his squad again on Monday night at Chase Center? Then again on Wednesday night in Dallas, and once more on Thursday in New Orleans, before perhaps coming back on Sunday at Chase Center versus the Cleveland Cavaliers?
Therefore, I believe he’s coming back Monday. I could very well be wrong. You just never know.
Maybe rebounding during warmups was just a once-in-a-blue-moon thing? I’ve never seen him do that and I’ve only missed two pregame warmups this season: the Toronto game (which he was not at) and Thanksgiving weekend at the LA Clippers (I haven’t done the research to find out if he went on that one-game trip).
You’ve got Andre Iguodala (on how Klay’s always being the recipient of Iguodala’s passes and revealing Andrew Wiggins remarked how Thompson also never dribbles) and Curry (on how Klay shot seventeen times in the scrimmage) raving about Klay’s scrimmage performance from Thursday, based on postgame interviews last night:
But what do I know?
I’ve actually checked around, to no avail. I did get a “Like” on a DM to one source, but that might only mean he likes my theories above, rather than knows anything. The other one didn’t reply. Neither of these responses is surprising and they might not even know.
I don’t usually partake, but “gross speculation” can be fun on rare occasions, especially in the context of just daily observations of the team. So you decide, DubNation, in the Comments below!
Btw, I should add that the reasoning behind all this was inspired by my usual postgame livestream Q&A chat with our YouTubers from the visiting arena last night. Please join me next time (Monday late night!):
/end