After making 727 consecutive starts, Klay Thompson came off the bench for the Warriors on Thursday for the first time since 2012 in the team’s final game before the All-Star break. Thompson had his best night of the year, scoring a season-high 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting in 28 minutes of action in a 140-137 win over the Jazz in Utah.
As Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area and Anthony Slater of The Athletic write, the move to the second unit wasn’t viewed as a punishment for Thompson, who has been benched in some clutch-time moments as of late and made some costly mistakes on defense on Wednesday.
Head coach Steve Kerr explained that he decided to insert Brandin Podziemski into the starting five in Thompson’s place because lineups that feature the rookie alongside Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Andrew Wiggins, and Jonathan Kuminga have been so effective — they’ve outscored opponents by 57 points in 107 minutes, good for a +26.0 net rating. Additionally, using Thompson as a sixth man gives Golden State “a lot of firepower” off the bench, Kerr added.
“He wasn’t thrilled about it,” Kerr said of informing Thompson of the decision before Thursday’s game. “I didn’t expect him to be thrilled about it.”
However, Thompson – whose overall production and shooting efficiency have dipped well below his career rates this season – said he ultimately decided to “embrace” the move before the opening tip.
“You can do two things. You can pout or you can go out there and respond. I thought I did the latter very well tonight,” Thompson said (Twitter video link via NBC Sports Bay Area). “… I realize I’m going to play a ton of minutes, so you’ve just gotta let the ego go when you think of coming off the bench and all that. I thought about Manu Ginobili, that guy has four rings and a gold medal, and he came off the bench his whole career. And I don’t think anyone looks down on his Hall of Fame candidacy. He’s one of the greats.
“… The moment you worry about what people say or what headlines will be written about being benched or the streak being broken, is when you go out there and you don’t play with that love, that compassion for your teammates, and that freedom that has gotten me to this point. So I realized that I didn’t want to go to All-Star break on a sour note, and I had my best game of the season. Hopefully (can) build off it.”
As Slater notes, Kerr said after the game that having Thompson come off the bench isn’t necessarily “permanent.” However, he wants to at least take a longer look at it, so the plan is to keep Podziemski in the starting lineup and Thompson in that sixth man role when the Warriors resume play after the All-Star break next Thursday.
Thompson has averaged 17.3 points per game on .421/.373/.918 shooting in 50 contests (30.6 MPG) this season. The Warriors have a -1.9 net rating during his minutes this season, compared to a +5.5 mark when he’s not on the court, but the team was a +7 with the veteran sharpshooter on the floor in Thursday’s three-point victory.
Thompson remains extension-eligible and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer if he doesn’t re-up with Golden State on or before June 30.
And of course, Klay responds with his best game of the season, probably even a couple of seasons. While they are still not fully playing the Championship caliber defense of the past, they are on the right path. The slow rebuild continues.
You could see he had a extra energy last night. The move is good because Thompson with fresh legs is the old player he was. CP3 better be expecting the same thing coming off the bench.
Until the 4th Q, when the team ran out of gas
They should have played Looney in the 4th quarter needing rebounds. Their rebounding in the 4th quarter was so bad. Utah was the younger team in the 4th.
Great to see athletes with that kind of approach. Like he said he still plays a decent amount. Heck if he performs well off the bench it probably helps his next contract anyways.
Klay will be fine and he will stay a warrior beyond this season, oh yeah…
I wouldn’t bet on it.
Finally. Klay the 6th man it is! Let’s go !!
Love Klay Thompson’s comment about “you can pout…” based on Steve Kerr’s comments sounds like he pouted. Also we get a good game from him about once a month. He still shot more than anyone on the team which is always been the issue with him. My biggest concern is that he’s going to keep leading the team and shots even when he’s shooting between 10 and 20% for the game.
“sounds like he pouted”
good game…once a month”
“always shoots more than anyone”
“going to keep leading…inshots”
“shooting between 10 and 20%”
Chancy, in one post I think you broke a missed shot record. Kerr saying he was disappointed in not starting = pouting. Huge assumption. He led the team in shots attempted last night. First time since January 24. Obviously “shoots” down your comment about “always leading” and his percentage, though down this year is still not close to 10-20%.
please don’t come here to GREATLY exaggerate. Do me a favor and Google “hyperbole”. Not long ago he blew out his knee. Had to be forced to sit rest of that game. That didn’t sit well with him. Wasn’t happy. Call it pouting if you dare. Next year blows out his Achilles. 2 years wasted. Worked his ass off to rehab both injuries. He could have pouted BUT came back.
You want to hyperbolically dog the guy? Do you think he’s fully healthy? Don’t answer that because you have ZERO clue what he’s gone through and neither do I. So lay off the exaggerations and try fact, not fiction Chancy.
Warriors paid him $80M during his time out for sitting on the bench. He should think about giving back to the team and not think about banking more $$$. He’s made $300M so far. Some players become more focused on getting another BIG contract. You never heard MJ talking about getting new bigger contracts. He played, won titles and got endorsements. He was smart. That is why Nike has paid him $2 billion in sales commissions on the Nike Air Jordan’s.
MJ was getting paid way more than any other NBA player in his last few years with Chicago. So that might be the dumbest comparison I have ever seen. Congrats.
Replace MJ by Westbrook
MJ got a big salary as a Bull his last two seasons because he knew he was leaving. He demanded a big payday for all the sacrifices he made for the team his first 12 years. Tom Brady did the same in NE. Took a lessor salary to keep the team together.
MJ’s total salary in 14 years with the Bulls was under $92M. most of that was in his last two years. He earned $29M in his first 12 seasons as a Bull. He average salary over the 14 years was $6.7M.
Went out and pkayed with that, ticked off, chip on the shoulder, “F*ck It” attitude…. and ended up being great!
Kerr is smart enough that if it takes Klay being mad at him to produce those type of numbers, yeah… he’ll stick with it.
Sounds like a smart move. With Curry, Thompson is always going to be 2nd banana. Leading the 2nd unit I expect more great showings from Klay.
So, Klay had one decent game. It’s what he does day in and day out that matters. He’s had his worst statistical year in the NBA since becoming a starter.