2022 has been a special year for Klay Thompson, who got back to a basketball court in January after 941 days of wait. On top of that, he capped off the 2021-22 NBA season by winning his fourth ring with the Warriors.
However, only a few months later, the Splash Brother is already looking frustrated. Things aren’t going exactly according to plan for Thompson this campaign, something that became clearer in Golden State’s loss to Phoenix.
Not only did Thompson score just two points, failing all his attempts from deep, but he also got ejected – something that never happened to him before. Recently, Steve Kerr said being on a minutes restriction is frustrating Klay.
Steve Kerr says Klay Thompson is unhappy with his minutes restriction
“He’s frustrated that he can’t play more right now,” Kerr said, via Bleacher Report. “He’d like to have his minutes bumped up, but the reality is you get a little older as a player when you’ve had some injuries is you’ve got to be a little more patient.
“You have to be on top of everything all year long, and you’ve got to be careful. We’re not going to mess around with that. So, his minutes will stay the same and he’ll be frustrated because he’s Klay, but he’ll be fine.“
It’s important to keep in mind that although he came back last season, Thompson spent two entire seasons on the sidelines due to injury. It may be frustrating, but he’ll eventually get to enjoy more playing time.
Klay Thompson addresses his start to the season
“It’s so nice, oh my gosh,” Thompson said, via NBC Sports. “I can’t even … yeah, man. Especially when you feel like you’re the reason your team goes through a slump. So it’s nice to get that out the way early. That really helps me put things into perspective.
“I’m such a perfectionist, I want to be great right now. But I got to realize, man, it’s a long season. I’d rather peak come playoff time rather than early November or into January.”
As Thompson said, there’s still a lot of basketball left. It’s been little over a week since the 2022-23 NBA season started, so there shouldn’t be any reason to panick yet.