Warriors’ Steph Curry offers thoughtful answer on if Klay Thompson is ‘back’

In Steph Curry's eyes, Klay Thompson is not all of a sudden "back," he's been back.

With Thompson averaging 36 points per game over his last four games, his most ever in a four-game span, which also included an incredible 54-point performance against the Atlanta Hawks, the question has been raised: Is Klay back?

In speaking to reporters at Warriors practice on Friday, Steph Curry was asked if his fellow Splash Brother officially is "back," to which he responded with an insightful reason as to why the narrative doesn't make sense.

Steph on the narrative that Klay is "back" after recent big games 👀 pic.twitter.com/BmwTgt3y9D
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 7, 2023

"That narrative around whether he's 'back' or not is interesting because you're always comparing him to what he was before, but we've known him to be a player that impacts winning in a lot of different ways," Curry explained. "Shooting the ball is obviously the first thing that everyone thinks about, so it's nice to see him make shots, it's nice to see him go for 50 (points) and still have that level."

By Curry's definition, Thompson, a player who can impact the game in many ways, has been "back" since the night he stepped foot onto the floor in his triumphant return to the court against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Jan. 9 last season. Curry, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury for Golden State's last 10 games, has enjoyed watching the show Thompson has put on night in and night out.

"He would tell you that we all love to shoot and score and all that, but the rest of it -- defending at a high level, being able to be a playmaker, hit big shots no matter if it's for 30 or 50 or whatever it is, have that kind of clutch opportunity," Curry said. "All those things matter. And so to see him do that, it's been really fun to watch and I'm super proud of him and happy for him because he's been through a lot with the injuries, he's been through a lot in terms of all the questions being asked around him and all the speculation on what level he can get back to. Now it's about how can he help us win and that will show itself in a lot of different ways."