Over the years, Golden State Warriors Klay Thompson has been one of the more highly regarded guards in the NBA. He has been an outstanding outside shooter and one of the greatest ever, and he also has a history of being an above-average defender as well.
But he tore his ACL during the 2019 NBA Finals, and less than a year and a half later, he suffered a torn Achilles. As a result, he lost two full seasons of the prime of his career.
Since returning last season, Thompson has shown stretches of brilliance where he has resembled his old self. But so far this season, he has struggled. He’s averaging 15.0 points a game while shooting only 40.2 percent from the field and 37.0 percent from the 3-point range.
Compared to his career averages of 19.7 points a contest on 45.4 percent overall shooting and 41.5 percent from downtown, those are very poor numbers.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors Updates
ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith took Thompson to task during Thursday’s episode of “First Take” and said that if his shooting doesn’t return to where it used to be, he may be rendered useless.
Thompson’s superpower has always been his outside shooting and his ability to use his outside shooting to go into volcano mode at the most opportune times. Dubs fans will always remember Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals when their team was facing elimination on the road versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.
With the Warriors trailing by eight heading into the final 12 minutes, Thompson exploded, hitting 5-of-6 from downtown and scoring 19 points in the fourth quarter to deliver them a victory and spare them the indignity of not reaching the NBA Finals after winning a record 73 regular season games.
NBA NEWS & RUMORS: Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors Updates
But what made him a true star was the fact that he was also a standout defender, as he was named to the All-Defensive Second Team during the 2018-19 season.
But so far this season, he has been a sieve on that end of the floor. According to NBA.com, with Thompson on the floor, Golden State has a 118.5 defensive rating, but without him, its defensive rating has been a stout 103.2, and it actually has a positive net rating with him off the court.
These are just a couple of reasons why the Warriors’ dynasty is on its last legs right now.
