The Golden State Warriors need to be more pragmatic right now. They cannot get too emotional if they want to turn the season around. The NBA is a cruel business, and it’s not about what you did in the past but what you can do now.
That’s why Klay Thompson’s minutes could be on the decline. He’s been up and down this season — mostly down — and the team cannot afford to let him shoot his way out of a slump.
Steve Kerr came to terms with that, and he demoted his star shooting guard to the second unit late in the game vs. the Brooklyn Nets, allowing the Warriors to get a nice run to close out the win with him on the bench.
Klay Thompson Opens Up On Getting Benched
Thompson acknowledged that this was a bit of a struggle for him. Then again, he also realizes it’s all about winning, so he’s going to do whatever it takes to help his team:
“I’ve accepted it,” Thompson said after the win. “You can be mad. But I’m not going to be mad. I’m happy for these young guys. Yeah, we won. It’s hard to get wins in this league. It’s all good. These guys played great. Gui played great. BP (Brandon Podziemski). Jonathan (Kuminga). At the end of the day, winning trumps all.”
Coach Kerr didn’t want the narrative to be centered around whether Thompson was benched down the stretch or not. Instead, he wanted to give the role players who stepped up their flowers:
“There’s a spotlight on (Klay) because of how great he is, because of the career he’s had,” Kerr said. “I don’t think that should be the story tonight. The story should be that we won a game on the road against a team playing well. We had multiple guys step in: Lester (Quinones), Moses, Gui. That’s the story tonight.”
Thompson finished the night with just eight points in 30 minutes, but his team got the win, and that’s all that matters. He’s had an amazing career and will one day be inducted into the Hall of Fame, but his glory days might be behind him.
SURVEY Is Thompson's prime over?
Is Thompson's prime over?
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