“Healthy ego of understanding who you are”: Steph Curry outlines keys to Klay Thompson’s stunning comeback
Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry is happy to see longtime running-mate Klay Thompson find his shooting touch once again, as he praised him for putting in the effort to wiggle out of his early slump.
Thompson had another solid outing offensively in their 126-106 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers at home on Saturday. He finished with 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting (68.8%) and 6-of-10 (60%) from three. It marked the sixth straight time he scored 20 points or more.
Speaking during the post-game press conference, Curry outlined what made Thompson turned things around, saying:
“The competitive spirit and a healthy ego of understanding who you are as player and responding when things don’t go your way. That’s what we’ve done for our entire career. He has shown time after time to make certain adjustments and he’s done that. Let the game come to him and make the easy play…”
While he is still posting decent numbers of 17.6 points on 43.2% shooting and 38.7% from three, to go along with 3.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists a game this season, 33-year-old Thompson has yet to find the consistency that made him a noted player in the shooting guard position.
Thompson has played far better of late, which has been a boon to the Warriors, who have won their last five games to improve to 15-14 for the season.
Klay Thompson and Golden State play next on Christmas Day in a road game against the defending champions Denver Nuggets.
Klay Thompson looking to sustain newfound consistency
The 13-year veteran Klay Thompson is glad to have found the shooting consistency that eluded him early in their campaign this season. He is now looking to sustain it as he tries to help the Golden State Warriors to steady competitiveness.
The output had him improving his scoring average to 25.6 points in their last six games, some eight points higher than his season average. More importantly, the Warriors have won five of six games in a said stretch.
Speaking about his newfound consistency in scoring, Thompson said by way of USA Today Sports:
“I still know I can be consistently better. It’s something to build on, obviously… I will look to hopefully replicate the same performance.”
Thompson was selected 11th overall by the Warriors in the 2011 NBA rookie draft. With Golden State, he has become a four-time league champion, five-time All-Star and an All-Defensive Team member multiple times.
He averages 19.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists in his Warriors career to date. The numbers could have been higher if not for the two straight seasons (2019-2021) he missed entirely because of injuries.
Klay Thompson is in the final year of his contract and will become a free agent after this season.