Return to NBA Finals a ‘surreal feeling’ for Warriors’ Klay Thompson after difficult 3 years

SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson was on the verge of tears Thursday night as he celebrated alongside his teammates after his 32-point performance propelled the Warriors to their sixth NBA Finals in eight years.

With the clock winding down after he checked out of the game for the final time, Thompson danced on the sideline before wiping his face with a towel and soaking in the jubilant scene of Chase Center.

As gold confetti fluttered through the air, the emotions of the last three years washed over Thompson.

“Just a surreal feeling,” he said after Golden State’s 120-110 win over the Mavericks to clinch the Western Conference Finals title in five games.

Thompson was overcome with a sense of joy, gratitude and accomplishment especially after everything he had to overcome to return to the league’s grandest stage.

One year ago, Thompson wasn’t even able to play basketball, the greatest love of his life. In fact, he could barely jog up and down the court.

But Thursday night was the moment he dreamed of as he pushed himself through the strenuous rehabilitation process following two major surgeries that sidelined him for two-and-a-half years.

The Warriors training staff, headed by the team’s director of sports medicine and performance Dr. Rick Celebrini, “would tell me it would pay off, it was hard to see that at the time,” Thompson said. “Now to actually be here, I can feel it paying off.”

Thompson stopped himself from getting overly emotional as he thanked Warriors fans for support following the victory.

“To see Klay get lost in his emotions of everything he’s been through, hear from the crowd, that was an amazing moment,” Stephen Curry said. “Everything about it was perfect.”

Added Draymond Green, “We all felt that … We saw the dark days, we saw the days of him coming in and you realize he just don’t have it today. You see him for a week straight, and he’s down, but yet continuing to plug away at it, just going and going and going. We saw that process.

“To see him have that moment, it’s special because ultimately we know where it’s coming from. It’s coming from the struggle, it’s a beautiful thing.”

Thompson tore his left ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Raptors. After working his way back from the first career-altering injury, he suffered another, rupturing his right Achilles tendon before the 2020-21 season.

Without Thompson, the Warriors missed back-to-back postseasons. But as Golden State struggled, with some saying the team’s championship window slammed shut when Kevin Durant departed, Thompson wrestled with his recovery behind the scenes — not fully knowing what type of player he would be when he returned.

“That’s a very resilient guy,” Green said of Thompson, who made eight 3-pointers and finished plus-18 Thursday night. “Klay is a dog, I’ve said it over and over again. He’s going to fight, he’s going to battle no matter what. Most important thing to him is always to win it. To take the floor like that with a guy every night, you can see how much he was missing over the last couple of years.

“To have him back, still not 100% back to Klay Thompson that we know but working his way there, it’s very special. We’re lucky to have him next to us competing with us because we know what we’re capable of when he is there.”

Thompson, a three-time NBA champion, has had plenty of great moments over the course of his storied career alongside Curry and Green. But Thursday’s win is up there with the best.

“It will be much sweeter if we complete the mission come next round,” he said.