Shannon Sharpe Brings Up Klay Thompson’s Former Contract to Defend Warriors

Abhishek Dhariwal | 02/07/2024
Shannon Sharpe Brings Up Klay Thompson's Former Contract to Defend Warriors

It is final. Klay Thompson has left the Golden State Warriors and has signed with the Dallas Mavericks. Ending a long-standing era of the Splash Brothers duo, Thompson’s move to join a new team has gotten the seal of approval from various noted names. Shannon Sharpe on the other hand, does not seem to agree with the ‘Warriors wronged Klay’ take as he finally speaks out.

NFL icon Shannon Sharpe explained how the Golden State Warriors did not do any wrong to Klay Thompson with the contract they offered him. Making an appearance on First Take, Sharpe took Draymond Green and Jordan Poole’s contracts as examples.

“If you go back and look at it, Jordan Poole had a career year when his contract was up, they paid him. Draymond played well, they paid him. Stephen A. said last week, This is statistically Klay’s worst year.’ It happened to be in a contract year. They didn’t wrong him.”

Sharpe emphasized the fact that Klay Thompson had a poor showing in his contract year, which reflected in what the Warriors organization offered him. 

Thompson averaged 17.9 PPG this past season. His point average was the lowest since his third year in the league. And while his point production did see a substantial dip, it seemed as if Thompson just wasn’t the same athlete that he was before his injuries.

Shannon Sharpe also factored in the previous contract the Golden State Warriors had offered him. 

“I already paid you for what you meant. Remember I gave you that four year, $140 million and two of those years you missed?”

Out of the four years Thompson was under contract, he was only able to play in two of them. Back-to-back injuries kept Klay out of rotation. But Sharpe’s point was how the Warriors organization still paid him despite him being unable to play.

And that is another reason why Sharpe feels that Thompson wasn’t wronged by the Golden State franchise.

Klay Thompson could’ve been a Laker

There was a strong possibility that fans would’ve gone on to see Klay Thompson rocking a Purple & Gold jersey in the upcoming season. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst too had reported how the Los Angeles Lakers were a ‘step away’ from signing Klay Thompson.

LeBron James went out on full ‘LeGM’ mode in the hopes of attracting Klay to play for the Lakers, with reports stating he called Thompson as soon as free agency started. Rumors also circulated that LeBron James was willing to take a pay-cut to offer Klay a better salary. Being a Los Angeles native himself, many thought it could be Thompson’s next landing stop.

But in a sudden turn of events, Klay Thompson signed a three-year/$50 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Let’s see what the veteran sharpshooter provides to the team that just came off a loss in the NBA Finals.

Post Edited By: Sameen Nawathe
Klay Thompson

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Abhishek Dhariwal

A fan of Basketball since the late 2000s, Abhishek Dhaiwal has been covering the game for over five years. Having done his masters in Journalism and Mass Communication, Abhishek is an NBA sports journalist at The SportsRush. A fan of the San Antonio Spurs since the Tim Duncan era, Abhishek has an extensive knowledge of the sport and has covered more than 1500 articles. Having a firsthand experience of the sport, Abhishek has represented his city and state at a District and National level. And it is the same level of expertise he aims to bring while covering extensive topics both on and off the court of your favorite basketball stars.

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