As Klay Thompson continues on his journey back to the Warriors, he’s been practicing with the Santa Cruz Warriors. On the latest Dubs Talk, Kendra Andrews and Grant Liffmann talk about what his return will be like.
As the season grows, this Warriors squad reminds Draymond Green of a different Golden State team, the same that broke a new NBA record with 73 regular-season wins.
That also was Andre Iguodala's third season in the Bay Area, coming off being named NBA Finals MVP.
Iguodala joined the Warriors ahead of the 2013-14 season after Golden State beat his Denver Nuggets in the playoffs. He remained with them throughout their run of five straight trips to the Finals, but was a member of the Miami Heat the past two seasons. Even he admits a part of him is a bit surprised by the Warriors' NBA-best 18-3 start to the season.
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"The funny thing is, coming in ... that Miami Heat culture had me locked in, so I'm already ready to go. Like all right, I need to bring that Miami Heat kind of vibe, make sure we're really locked in every day," Iguodala said on the most recent episode of "The Draymond Green Show." "But to say that I could predict this would be a lie. Most of the time you know.
"The first year, we didn't quite know. After that, it was like, 'Oh, we're about to run through these dudes the next four years. As long as we're together, we're running through people.' "
Golden State's original Big Four is back with Iguodala's return to the Warriors. He's been a steady presence off the bench when healthy and brings everyday leadership, Green is back to being at the top of his game and Steph Curry just won his third straight Western Conference Player of the Month award. There's only one thing missing -- Klay Thompson.
The other side of the Splash Brothers is due to make his return to the Warriors in the very near future after missing two straight seasons to leg injuries. Thompson recently scrimmaged with the G League Santa Cruz Warriors, and his teammates were absolutely hyped watching him put on a show.
"You see that video of Klay the other day, I'm like, 'Oh! Oh!' Now you're locked in even more. Let's not waste no time, let's not throw nothing away, let's take advantage of all these moments. We all know this ain't guaranteed and everyone -- whatever they say -- just because you have a good team don't mean you're gonna win it. You still have to win it.
"And we have to understand how precious these moments are and what we got ahead of us. You just wake up and you can't wait to get to work. People don't understand that being a professional athlete, there's so many things that come with it that can stray you away from the joy of your job and it's just become a drag sometimes, but when you're excited to go to work it's an incredible feeling, man."
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Green couldn't stop nodding his head and agreeing with how much joy he's finding in being around his Warriors teammates every single day this season.
When it comes to Klay, his longtime teammate is counting down the days until he shares the court with him again.
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"When I saw that video, when they showed us that, like, what the hell," Green said laughing. "What people don't know is, the video that they saw, he hit his first six shots of the scrimmage. ... He hit six straight and you know that was in the first 10 possessions, because you know Klay -- he hit that first one, Klay's not gonna just let you lose him when he's hitting shots. He's going to get the ball. You know those first six buckets absolutely came within six of the first 10 possessions of that scrimmage.
"That had me so excited, man, seeing him playing like that. Obviously we're playing well but just on his journey, it's beautiful to see. I am extremely excited about Klay coming back, I know we all are.
"Yes, we're playing great but you add Klay Thompson to the fold, and then [James] Wiseman back to the fold -- I like where we're at."
