“I deserved it” - Klay Thompson breaks silence on benching, draws inspiration from 4-time NBA champ
Klay Thompson played in 699 consecutive games as part of the Golden State Warriors’ starting lineup. During that stretch, he earned five All-Star selections and four championships with the Dubs. He and Steph Curry formed perhaps the deadliest starting backcourt for roughly a decade until Thompson was demoted to the bench on Thursday.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr had eased “Game 6 Klay” to the bench for about a month now. Thompson would still start but it was rookie Brandin Podziemski who would often close out games alongside Curry. Against the Utah Jazz, the veteran did not start for the first time since 2012 but was on the floor when the final buzzer sounded.
In a postgame interview, Klay Thompson had this to say about his benching:
“You can pout or go out there and respond. I thought I did the latter very well tonight. … I thought about Manu Ginobili. That guy has four rings and a gold medal. I don’t think anyone looks down on his Hall of Fame candidacy.
“And I deserved it [benching] really. I didn’t respond to not playing at the end of the game well last night. Kind of took it out on the assistant coaches. I apologized to those guys before the game.”
A week ago, Klay Thompson had already told the media that it was incredibly frustrating for him to sit on the bench late in the game. From being one of the best, he had become almost unplayable in crucial situations down the stretch.
In the Golden State Warriors’ 130-125 loss to the LA Clippers on Wednesday, Kerr took out Thompson starting at the eight-minute mark of the fourth quarter. The coach went with his now go-to closing unit of Brandin Podziemski, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, Steph Curry and Draymond Green.
Kerr kept Thompson on the bench until 47.2 seconds remained in the game and the Warriors trailing 126-120. The Warriors needed a 3-pointer so Kerr removed Kuminga for the the five-time All-Star.
Podziemski nailed a corner triple with 39.6 seconds left on the clock to cut LA’s lead to 126-123. Golden State's coach wildly directed his team on the sidelines, not to foul. Right after Norman Powell inbounded the ball to Russell Westbrook, Thompson fouled the former MVP. Even Westbrook was surprised he was deliberately fouled.
Steve Kerr’s reaction to the foul quickly went viral. Brandin Podziemski was caught in disbelief after what had happened. Steph Curry could only chew on his mouthpiece, confused at what his longtime backcourt mate had done.
Less than 24 hours later, Kerr benched Klay Thompson for the first time since the four-time champ was a rookie in 2012.
Steve Kerr isn’t inserting Klay Thompson back into the starting lineup
After the game, Steve Kerr told reporters that he had already thought long and hard before Thursday about having Klay Thompson come off the bench. He added that he was proud of the way the shooting guard responded to the benching.
When asked if Thompson gets his usual starting job back, Kerr responded:
"Doesn't mean it's permanent...We'll give it a little look and see how it goes."
Kerr played for a few years in San Antonio alongside Manu Ginobili, the NBA’s former sixth-man extraordinaire. The Argentine could have accumulated better and more impressive numbers had he insisted on starting for the Spurs. Instead, he followed coach Gregg Popovich’s strategy to lead the second-stringers.
Without Ginobili, the Spurs may not have won four championships. It is also very likely that Argentina would not have grabbed the 2004 Olympic gold medal without their star lefty.
Perhaps Steve Kerr gave Manu Ginobili as an inspiration. Klay Thompson may yet still regain some of his form by emulating one of the NBA history’s most underrated players.