After being sidelined for 941 combined days due to suffering an ACL tear in his left knee in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals and a torn right Achilles tendon during a scrimmage in November 2020, Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson finally returned to action vs the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday evening.
He showed some obvious rust, which is expected considering he hasn’t played in an NBA game in more than two-and-a-half years, but ultimately played well enough and helped propel the Warriors to a hard-fought 96-82 win.
The five-time All-Star finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field and 3-of-8 from three point range to go along with three rebounds, one block and one assist in 20 minutes of action.
He admits that he was a bit disappointed with his production, but is able to overlook it considering the joy and relief he feels about finally being back on the court.
“I did not shoot as well as I wanted to but I’m so happy I can even look at the stat sheet and see my name there. It’s been a long run. I’m not going to say it equivalent to winning a championship but it was pretty close.” said Thompson.
“I tried to visualize this moment for years…I’m just excited to get it out of the way now and I can get back in the rhythm of things. This is unbelievable. This is worth every second.”
He also reached two milestones during the game: 12,000 career points and 1,800 career three-pointers.
The Miami Heat were so close to competing the comeback and heading off the NBA Finals.
They were down by two and had possession with less than 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Instead of managing the clock and waiting as long as possible to get a shot off, Butler tried to take advantage of having a wide open shot and fired off a transition three with no defenders around him with still 17 seconds left. Unfortunately for the Heat, Butler simply didn’t get enough lift into the shot and clanked it off the front of the rim.
By the end of it all, Celtics won by four and find themselves off to the next round while the Heat are forced to reminisce over what went wrong.
Did Jimmy make the right decision? Watch the video below and let us know what you think!
Pascal Siakam accomplished something that not a lot of players that failed to make the All-Star team can do.
The Toronto Raptors forward was officially selected to the 2022 edition of the All-NBA third team after receiving 42 third-team votes and seven second-team votes.
The 28-year old played exceptional on both ends of the floor, and bounced back after a rough pandemic-shortened campaign in Tampa Bay. He averaged 22.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 5.3 assists through 68 games in 2021/22.
Siakam is just the third player in franchise history to receive the honour (Vince Carter, DeMar DeRozan). It marks the second time in his career he was selected to an All-NBA team. He was previously selected to an All-NBA second team after an impressive All-Star season in 2019/2020.
J-Cole wants to prove to everybody that he is more than just a rapper. He is also an aspiring basketball player and will get to play professionally north of the border.
The Grammy-winning artist has reportedly signed a contract to play for Canadian basketball team Scarborough Shooting Stars of the Canadian Elite Basketball League (CEBL).
The 37-year old previously played basketball in Africa last May with Patriots Basketball Club of the Basketball Africa League, but left after just three games due to “family obligations”.
The Shooting Stars will open their season against the Guelph Nighthawks on May 26.