The Golden State Warriors just can’t catch a break at the moment, as their In-Season tournament journey recently came to an end at the hands of the Sacramento Kings. Klay Thompson in particular, has been far from his best self so far this season. This was a theme that continued against Sacramento as well, as he recorded just 20 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, and 2 blocks while shooting 42.9% from the field and just 33% from beyond the arc.
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The Dubs were eventually on the losing side of a 123-124 final score, something that made Thompson’s pre-game comments about ‘not caring’ about the backlash from fans even worse.
Stephen A. Smith made an appearance on his ESPN show, ‘First Take’ soon after the game. While there, the analyst seemed to be in no mood to hold himself back at all. With that mindset, the following is what he had to say on Klay Thompson’s comments, as seen in the YouTube clip by ESPN.
“Maybe you should start caring [about fans’ criticisms of his performances]. How about that Klay [Thompson]? Now, I would challenge anybody on the planet to find a bigger fan of Klay Thompson than me.
With that claim, Smith added that Thompson is one of the best shooters in the game, but is only averaging 15 points per game now. He then added that the 4x NBA champ shoots better than 40% from three throughout his career but now is 36% from the same range.
“And by the way, that’s an improvement. You’ve been playing like hot trash! That is the bottom line!”
While Stephen A. Smith’s words are harsh, it is admittedly difficult to refute the truth in them. The fact of the matter is Klay Thompson isn’t where the Warriors need him to be if they intend to win a championship this season. And considering this has been the case for some time now, perhaps it may be time to confront the fact that he may never get back to those heights again.
How can Klay Thompson improve?
Shooting percentage is an obvious point of interest here. In fact, it is the biggest one. As the ESPN analyst said, Thompson is currently averaging 15 points on 40.4% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc. With his career averages standing at 45% and 41% respectively for those categories, the drop-off this season has been beyond palpable.
That said, Klay’s transition to guarding power forwards on the other end has quietly been a lot faster than many expected. So, the player does deserve credit, especially considering how much his ACL and Achilles injuries cut down on his movement.
Still, the true value of the Splash brother has always been on the offensive end. But with the Warriors star struggling to figure it all out, the Dubs may need to look towards someone else to pick up the load. Could Moses Moody finally be given a bigger role?
