“Players like Klay Thompson come out of college every year .. get Kevin Love”: Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe, and NBA’s greatest bettor had it all wrong about Warriors guard

The Golden State Warriors were pretty close to trading Klay Thompson for Kevin Love back in 2014, but Steve Kerr didn’t let it happen.

If people say they knew Klay Thompson was First Ballot Hall of Fame calibre good when he first came into the league back in 2011, they are lying. By the time the then Warriors Head Coach, Mark Jackson’s 3-year tenure ended, Thompson had become an All-Star calibre player.

Before the 2014-15 season started and Steve Kerr was to take over from Jackson which would be his first gig as a head coach, the Warriors management was assessing a move for Kevin Love. The then 3x All-Star was playing for Minnesota Timberwolves until then and was a consistent 25p/10r guy when fit.

Thompson would have been going the other way if that deal did take place. But Kerr insisted for Klay to stay which in turn sent Love to the Cavaliers. And at the time fans and experts were simply surprised about why the Dubs were giving away the chance to sign one of the best players in the league for a guy who’s not even an all-star.

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Bill Simmons mocked Klay Thompson and criticized Steve Kerr for not giving him up for Kevin Love

When you watch Thompson play he makes it look so effortless that you sort of miss out on how great he is because are you solely taken aback by the efforts Stephen Curry and Draymond Green put in every game to be good.

That’s what NBA journalists Bill Simmons, Zach Lowe and NBA gambler Haralabos Voulgaris were thinking when they heard Kerr would not trade for Love and rather have Thompson over him when they were about to go for their first title run.

Thanks to a Redditor we came across an old B.S. Report clip where Simmons and Voulgaris were simply calling Kerr’s take on Thompson being the team’s best defender absurd. They even went as far as to say “players like Klay come out of college every year.”

“He’s a good player but I won’t be telling my grandkids about Klay Thompson,” said The Ringer’s main man. Yikes. Listen to the whole thing, it’s worth your time.

Now that we know Thompson is one of the pillars of the Warriors dynasty that has won 4 championships in the last 8 years, that video seems so funny. Bill will have to tell his grandchildren about Klay when he tells them about Warriors.

The man they were mocking so much is now one of the greatest shooters of all time who will finish just behind Steph when it’s all said and done. He is also one of the best and most underrated perimeter defenders of all time.

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About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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