Klay Thompson sets career high in 3-pointers in 1st full season since 2-year injury layoff

Klay Thompson has been back for the last year and change, and in at least one respect, he's better than ever.

With five 3-pointers made in a comeback 120-109 win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, the Golden State Warriors All-Star set a new career high in 3-pointers made in a season with an NBA-leading 278 and counting. He has five more games to add to that total.

His previous high was 276 3-pointers in the 2015-16 season (aka the 73-9 season).

Thompson finished Tuesday with 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting (5-of-11 from deep) with two rebounds and two steals.

A good NBA player setting a new career high isn't typically the most notable of stories, but it definitely is when it wasn't entirely clear if he would play again this time two years ago. Thompson missed the entire 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, plus nearly half of 2021-22, after tearing his ACL and Achilles tendon in separate incidents.

Thompson ended up spending 31 months, or 949 days, away from the court. It's easy to forget how much his career seemed at risk now that he has returned and won a fourth NBA championship, but Thompson's level of play since his return absolutely shouldn't be taken for granted.

It's also easy to take for granted Thompson's overall place in NBA history as one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, given that he has played his entire career with Stephen Curry, the greatest shooter in NBA history. At 33 years old, Thompson currently sits 11th on the NBA's all-time 3-pointer leaderboard and it's conceivable he'll be sixth after next season if he replicates this season's performance.

Add that to some very Klay Thompson records such as most points in a quarter (37) and most 3-pointers in a game (14), and you have a player still adding to what is already a Hall of Fame legacy.