January 10, Beijing time, is a big day for all NBA fans to look forward to. On this day, the Warriors will face the Cavaliers at home, and Klay Thompson, who has been forced to miss the past two full seasons due to injury, will return as scheduled.
Unconsciously, the NBA super sharpshooter, five-time All-Star, three-time championship winner, because of the continuous serious injuries to the front cruciate ligament and Achilles tendon tear, has not appeared in the NBA official game for 541 days, during his recovery period, the league has undergone earth-shaking changes, and now looking back, it is like a dream.
Thompson's most recent appearance in an NBA game was on June 14, 2019, the sixth game of the 2018-19 NBA Finals, when the Warriors lost 110-114 to the Raptors, lost the series 2-4 overall score, and failed to impact the triple crown. Thompson shot 30 points, but was injured in the final moments of the game, starting a long battle with injuries.
Until then, the following major events in the NBA have not happened:
They also adhere to the "one person, one city"
In the 2019 Finals, Thompson and Durant both suffered serious injuries, and the decline of the Warriors dynasty made many teams see the hope of champions, and the frequent flow of superstars, and the change in the league pattern.
Until then, the NBA was still in the "old order." For example, Wei Shao, who was "held" by Lakers fans today, was still a representative of one person and one city at that time, averaging three doubles per game for three consecutive seasons, and was the son of the Thunder and a strong contender for the MVP.
But in the summer of 2019, the Clippers recruited to buy a championship, and when Kawhi Leonard proposed to join Paul George as a condition for signing, they did not hesitate to pull out all the chips to meet the needs of the Thunder. This deal also directly destroyed Wei Shao's attachment to Russian City, and finally exchanged owners with Paul, experiencing the first transfer of his NBA career.
Westbrook may not have imagined that Houston was not his end, and then he traveled to Washington and finally returned to his hometown of Los Angeles. In just over two years, after experiencing three transactions, from the original alliance super giant, quickly fell to the protagonist of the venue, Wei Shao's experience, people sigh.
Westbrook's Lakers teammate Anthony Davis also left the Pelicans, where he had played for seven years, in the summer of 2019 to join the Purple And Gold. Unlike Wei Shao, the thick eyebrow trade became a positive example of "people moving to live", and in the first season with Zhan Huang, he won the championship as he wished.
In that big trade of one for three (draft picks), Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Josh Hart also experienced their first transfers, and the trajectory of their careers has changed since then....
In addition to Westbrook and Thick Brow, Neither Kemba Walker nor Mike Conley left where their dreams began before the summer of 2019 arrives. The following players, although they have already experienced transfers, have changed the court again after that, and thus affected the entire pattern of the league.
Kelant, Irving, and Harden have left their respective teams to form a big three in Brooklyn; Leonard and George have teamed up to make the Clippers become the upstart in the league and divide Los Angeles with the Lakers; Jimmy Butler also led the team to the Finals after signing with the Heat.
They haven't retired yet
Thompson has been on a 941-day suspension for two serious injuries, and when he returns to this beloved stage now, he will find that many former opponents or teammates have bid farewell to the league.
On August 31, 2019, Zaza Pachulia announced his retirement from the NBA. The big man from Georgia played for six teams in his 16-year career, including two championships with the Warriors;
On September 14, 2019, veteran Sean Livingston, who was cut for the Warriors' temporary abandonment of the hope of fighting for the title, announced his retirement. During Livingston's bumpy 15-year NBA career, he played for ten teams, and finally achieved success in the Warriors, witnessing all five Finals and three championship-winning journeys;
On June 26, 2020, Vince Carter officially announced his retirement after 22 seasons in the NBA. He also became the first player in NBA history to span four "decades" in his career ('90s, 00s, '10s and '20s);
In addition, from Thompson's injury in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals to the present, there are the following familiar names that officially announce the end of his NBA career, including:
Lol Dun, Jose Calderon, Zach Randolph, Marchin Gottart, Marvin Williams, Leandro Barbosa, Cory Brewer, Aron Brooks, Andrew Bogut, Evan Turner, Jogyn Noah, Sabo Severosa, Kyle Korver, JJ Redick, Paul Gasol, and so on.
They haven't made it into the league yet
In the more than two years that Thompson was away from the field, another group of young talents poured into the league and quickly established their own reputation and status. If you don't think about it, you may not realize that these already famous supernova stars have never had the opportunity to play against Thompson on the NBA.
Zion Williamson has been unable to play this season due to repeated foot injuries, and has begun to be characterized by some media and fans as "Glass Man", compared with Greg Auden. However, before Thompson was injured in the 2019 Finals, Zion was only a "quasi-champion" of the NBA.
After that, Zion was selected by the Pelicans, although he postponed his debut due to injury, but after returning from injury, he performed heroically, averaging 27 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game last season, and his amazing offensive efficiency broke many historical records and became a phenomenon-
This season, Zion has been questioned for injuries and weight issues, but he is only 21 years old after all and has a lot of time to prove himself. If he has the opportunity to meet Thompson in the future, he can learn from his predecessors and learn how to maintain a positive attitude during the long recovery process.
Compared with Zion, the 2019 leader Jia Morant has developed more smoothly after entering the league, and the future is more exciting. This season, the young guard averaged 25.1 points, 5.7 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, leading the Grizzlies to the top four in the West, and his explosive playing style attracted countless fans, becoming the league's new generation of leaders.
Also entering the league in 2019 are Taylor Hiero, who has averaged 20.3 points per game this season and has almost locked in the best sixth man in advance, and Thompson's "teammate", jordan Poole, currently the Warriors' third-place scorer. The reason why he put the word teammate in quotation marks is because although Poole played for the Warriors as soon as he entered the league, he has never officially worked with Thompson so far.
Because of Thompson's injury, Poole has gained a lot of performance opportunities in the past two years, and the progress is obvious to all. With Thompson back, he will have another valuable opportunity to take a closer look and learn directly from the NBA's best point guard, which is definitely a blessing for the Warriors.
These arenas have not yet been renamed (or opened)
Thompson's last game before his injury also happened to be the Warriors' farewell battle at Oracle Arena, and after that season, they officially moved to San Francisco to open the newly completed Chase Center.
In addition to the Warriors, during Thompson's recovery from injury, there are eight other teams in the league that have experienced the replacement of the naming rights of the main stadium and waved goodbye to a piece of history. These include:
The home of the Denver Nuggets, formerly known as Pepsi Center, was renamed Ball Arena on October 23, 2020;
The home of the Miami Heat, formerly known as the American Airlines Arena, was renamed FTX Arena on June 5, 2021;
The home of the Phoenix Suns, formerly known as Tokinsdick Resort Arena, was officially renamed Footprint Center on July 17, 2021;
The home of the Oklahoma City Thunder, formerly known as the Chesapeake Energy Arena, was renamed paycom Center on July 28, 2021;
The home of the Indiana Pacers, formerly known as Bankers Life Arena, was officially renamed Gainbridge Arena on September 28, 2021;
The home of the Los Angeles Lakers and los Angeles Clippers, signed as Staples Center, was officially renamed Crypto Arena on December 26, 2021.
The COVID-19 pandemic has not yet broken out
On March 12, 2020, shortly before the Jazz's away game against the Thunder began, Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for covid-19, becoming the first confirmed covid-19 case in the NBA, resulting in the emergency suspension of many games on the day.
The next day, the NBA made the decision to suspend the season. In the days that followed, several more NBA players tested positive for COVID-19, and the league finally restarted the season in a closed environment at Disney World Resorts in Orlando after months of shutdowns.
To preserve the suspense, a total of 13 Western and 9 Eastern teams were invited into the "bubble," and for the first time in its history, the NBA introduced a playoff format to determine where the last two playoff spots belonged. This format will be retained for the following 2020-21 season and may become the league's regular setting from then on.
The "Orlando Rematch" lasted until mid-October, ending with the Lakers beating the Heat to win their 17th championship in franchise history. During this period, the NBA suffered huge financial losses, and in order to recover as soon as possible, the league decided to start the 2020-21 season after less than two months of offseason.
It can be said that the NBA is braving the epidemic, hardening the scalp, and forcibly returning to the right track, for which they have borne the cost of "empty field" games, although this means that they cannot obtain the corresponding ticket and peripheral product sales revenue, but at least they can ensure the normal performance of the TV broadcast contract.
Despite this, the 2020-21 season was still bumpy, with a total of 31 games forced to be postponed due to the epidemic that caused the team to fail to put together eight players. A similar situation continues this season, although the vast majority of NBA players have been vaccinated, and there are still people who are recruited by new variants of the virus. When will the NBA fully return to its pre-pandemic appearance? It still seems elusive.
They haven't left us yet
2020 is a year of disasters, and before the new crown virus officially invaded, the NBA world has been hit hard for a series of times – two legends who have made great contributions to the sport, leaving us forever.
David Stern, former NBA president and one of the most important contributors to the league's history, died on the first day of 2020 at the age of 77 due to cerebral hemorrhage. For the rest of the season, all 30 teams sewed black stripes on the left side of their jerseys in honor of the founder of the NBA's business empire.
Although Stern's death is sad, after all, the old man is old, and everyone is mentally prepared. In contrast, the 41-year-old Kobe Bryant's misfortune is even more shocking, stunned, and heartbreaking. In the early hours of January 27, 2020, after being surpassed by LeBron James on the all-time scoring list, Bryant and his second daughter Gianna were tragically killed in a helicopter accident.
The entire NBA world fell into deep grief after the bad news, and all the games of the day honored the legendary superstar with 24 and 8 seconds of violations in the opening stage. And in the 2020 NBA All-Star Game, all the players also wore the number 24 and 2 to pay tribute to Kobe And his beloved daughter Gianna.
Thompson idolized Bryant from an early age, and later in an interview, he described 2020 as the "worst year" of his life, not only because he experienced a severe Achilles tendon tear after a torn ANCL, but more importantly, he lost his beloved idol forever.
"I didn't go by a day without thinking about him, I didn't even get a chance to talk to him one last time, it was a really sad year." Thompson said.
These histories have not been rewritten
In the more than two years that Thompson has been recuperating, the following historical records have been rewritten, which is worth mentioning:
On August 14, 2020, the San Antonio Spurs confirmed that they missed the playoffs, ending the longest record in NBA history for 22 consecutive years;
On May 2, 2021, the Pacers beat the Thunder 152-95 to set a record for the largest away win in NBA history with 57 points;
On May 11, 2021, Russell Westbrook, who plays for the Wizards, finished his 182nd career regular-season triple-double with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 21 assists in the game against the Hawks, breaking the record held by Oscar Robertson and becoming the NBA's all-time triple-double king;
On June 2, 2021, Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard broke the NBA playoff single-game three-point shooting record with 12 three-pointers;
On October 23, 2021, Chris Paul became the first player in NBA history to reach 20,000 career points and assist more than 10,000 times.
On December 3, 2021, the Grizzlies beat the Thunder 152-79, setting the record for the largest point difference in NBA history;
On December 15, 2021, Stephen Curry surpassed Ray Allen to become the NBA's all-time three-point king;
On January 3, 2022, Josh Gidey played a triple-double when he was 19 years and 84 days old, setting a new NBA record for the youngest triple-double after Last season's La Mello Pol.
epilogue
941 days is not a long time for a person's life, but for a player's sports career, it is not short enough to take some fundamental turns.
The last time Thompson appeared on the NBA court, he was only 29 years old, in good health, and at the peak of his form. 941 days later, when he put back on the Warriors' No. 11 jersey, he was a veteran who was about to turn 32 and had suffered two devastating injuries.
Although too much has changed in the league in 941 days, we still hope that The returning Thompson is still the "soup god" we are familiar with.