It’s been a rocky start to the season for the defending champions, struggling to keep themselves at the +500 mark. While Stephen Curry continues to prove why he’s an all-time great, it’s time his teammates stepped up. Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of scrutiny surrounding the second half of the Splash Brothers Klay Thompson, courtesy of his struggles on the hardwood.
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A career 41.6% shooter from the 3-point line, Thompson seems a little sluggish, something many would contribute to his back-to-back grave injuries. Though the four-time champion did have a couple of impressive performances off-late, his poor showing against the Mavericks had many cast their doubt.
Klay Thompson got a WIDE OPEN look for the tie, but it falls just short.pic.twitter.com/GkWnsAIdhV
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 30, 2022
In what many believe, Thompson has been trying too hard to shut down the narrative of him not being the same post-injury, owing to his competitive nature. Not so long back, the 32-year-old got into a bit of back and forth with Hall of Famer and TNT analyst Charles Barkley.
In a recent conversation with Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks, Barkley was as candid as it gets, addressing his previous comments on Thompson.
“Age, Achilles, and ACL”: Charles Barkley reveals why Klay Thompson will never be the same.
Barkley and Thompson have been involved in a bit of back and forth off-late, owing to the Inside the NBA analyst’s comments about the Warriors guard not being the same post his back-to-back catastrophic injuries and that he was no more the best two-way guard in the league.
Addressing Chuck’s comments, Thompson cited being hurt by the Suns MVP’s words, revealing how the past two and half years had been hard for him dealing with such gruesome injuries. Nevertheless, Barkley continued to stick to his previous stance, addressing the same in a conversation with Taylor Rooks.
“Klay is still a heck of a player, but he’s never gonna be that best two-guard in the NBA that he was for a long time because of Age, Achilles, and ACL,” said Barkley.
Referring to Klay’s recent on-court altercation with Devin Booker, which resulted in the Warriors guard’s career-first ejection, Barkley revealed having been in a similar space.
“Devin Booker was kicking his a** and when you get older and you’re like, ‘This guy is kicking my a** and there’s nothing I can do about it’ cause that was really hard for me when I got older but then you could tell Klay was frustrated because he started talking about the four rings.”
“He 100 percent overreacted.”
Chuck on Klay Thompson not being the same player pic.twitter.com/wvcfLQSOc7
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 29, 2022
While one should cut Thompson some slack, given the injuries he’s endured, the 6ft 6″ guard has time till the end of the regular season to change the narrative.
Klay Thompson’s current stats.
Thompson, who was impressive over the last couple of games would disappoint during the recent close encounter against the Mavericks, scoring a mere 5-points on 2-for-9 shooting from the field, leaving his Splash Brother Steph Curry with no help.
The five-time All-Star is currently averaging 17.0 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.2 assists, shooting 39.2% from the field. Disappointing numbers for a player of Thompson’s caliber.
