It has been under a month since Steve Kerr made a huge decision. On Feb 22, 2024, Kerr moved Klay Thompson to the bench when the Warriors played the Jazz in Salt Lake City. Klay responded with a 35-point game, helping the Dubs take a 140-137 win. Fast forward to tonight, Klay came off the bench and recorded a huge 26-point performance, shooting 50% from the deep.
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Shifting from a starter to a sixth man is never easy, especially when you’ve started 727 consecutive games for the franchise. However, Klay Thompson kept his head high and chose to respond with his performance. So far, Klay has come off the bench in 10 contests, averaging 20.3 points on 45% shooting from the deep.
After the win against the Lakers tonight, Draymond Green made sure to send love Klay’s way. Anthony Slater uploaded a soundbite on X(formerly Twitter) where we can hear Draymond explain how Klay was initially worried about his bench role, but now he’s stopped caring, freeing up his game a lot.
“I think that’s great for this team, but it also shows his maturity. You go so long starting… There’s not many people that know how that feels, but there’s a bunch of people that wants to judge it. And I felt like early on, he was too worried about how people was judging him. And now he don’t care. And once he stopped caring, his game did what we know Klay Thompson is capable of doing.“
Draymond Green on Klay Thompson leaning into his microwave bench role: “Early on, he was too worried about how people were judging it. Now he don’t care.”
Full soundbite pic.twitter.com/4yh9pMCKYi
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) March 17, 2024
Klay Thompson became a starter for the Warriors all the way back in 2012 when Stephen Curry had ankle troubles, and Monta Ellis was traded. While Steph returned to the lineup healthy for the 2012-13 campaign, Klay had already cemented his spot as a starter. From March 2012 to Feb 2024, Klay started 727 consecutive games for the Warriors. Despite rookie Brandin Podziemski taking his starting spot, there is no bitterness. In fact, Draymond Green spoke about how Klay has been mentoring the younger guys ahead of him.
“For him to accept the role, but not only accept the role,but pour into the young guys like he’s been pouring into the young guyssince he accepted the role, I think it’s been huge.And when you got Klay Thompson feeding you confidence as a young guy,that takes you to the roof as a nowadays young guy.”
It’s been a huge boost for the Dubs to get Klay off the bench. At the same time, it’s given the younger guys a chance to carry the load. We all have Steve Kerr to thank for the same.
Klay Thompson credits Steve Kerr for changing his perspective
Klay Thompson had yet another brilliant game off the bench today. He scored 26 points on 9/15 shooting, making 5 out of 10 3-pointer attempts to go along with his 4 rebounds and 3 assists. Overall, it was an incredibly impactful performance delivered at the perfect time.
After the game, Klay was asked how that talk with Steve Kerr had helped him change his perspective.
“Steve’s seen it all really, his time in the NBA. That conversation helped me relax a little bit and instead of chasing past greatness, just be appreciative of what I’m able to do now and the mountain I had to climb to play at this level. It really helped me relax and be myself.”
Klay details how his talk with Kerr helped him stop chasing “past greatness” and instead appreciate what he can do now pic.twitter.com/hVyFaMoxcP
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 17, 2024
Steve Kerr has been around the NBA since 1988. In his 36 years of being in and around the league, he’s seen a lot, and can often see the bigger image. By helping Klay Thompson accept the bench role, not only has he allowed the Warriors star to revive a sub-par season, but also given a chance to extend his career. At the same time, it also gives the younger guys a chance to prove themselves, helping the team work on building a core for the future.
