How Klay Thompson is evolving and finding his voice this season

SAN FRANCISCO — There’s a tired question popping up after every big performance by Klay Thompson this season.

Is he back to being the player he was before injuries robbed him of two years of his prime?

After dazzling Friday on a night when the Warriors needed him most, Thompson said he’s done viewing himself from pre- and post-injury lenses.

“I don’t like to talk about vintage me or am I my old self — I just think I’m being myself and I was capable of these things in the past,” Thompson said. “As long as my wrist still works, my feet work, I’ll forever be able to shoot the rock … So for me, it’s just about hunting great shots.”

And that’s what he did in a much-needed 116-101 win over the Houston Rockets that put the Warriors in a three-way tie with the Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans for seventh place in the Western Conference.

It might’ve been the latter half of just his second back-to-back in nearly four years, but Thompson showed no signs of exhaustion as he led the Warriors’ charge against the Rockets, who own the worst record in the league.

With Stephen Curry, Andrew Wiggins and Draymond Green all out, Thompson scorched the Rockets, going 12-for-17 from beyond the arc and 7-for-7 from the free throw line for his second 42-point game in 2 1/2 weeks.

Coach Steve Kerr was also happy to see Thompson grab seven defensive rebounds — a sign that he’s listening and accepting the challenge to do more than just score.

Thompson had a pair of conversations with coaches over the last week about how the greatest players evolve their games as they get older.

Assistant coach Bruce Fraser encouraged Thompson to go after triple-doubles and round out his entire game. Meanwhile, Kerr used Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson as examples of players who advanced their games to prolong their careers. Jordan became an incredible low-post player in his 30s, while Johnson improved his 3-point shooting and free throw percentage over the years.

“As you get older, and you get banged up and injured, all that stuff, you can’t just expect to be the same player that you were five years ago,” Kerr said. “Klay understands that, and the challenge is to be better defensively and more vocal, and a better leader and a better rebounder and all those things because within the team, he’s now the elder.”

Thompson has always led by example. But amid this tumultuous season, where the Warriors have been plagued by injuries and hovered around .500, Thompson has felt an increased responsibility to step up in a variety of ways — even if it means pushing him out of his comfort bubble.

“I’m not the most comfortable using my voice, but you’ve got to be comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Thompson said. “That’s how you grow to be great. Tonight I did a good job of leading by example and using my voice.”

Thompson drew inspiration to improve his leadership while he was scrolling through Instagram before the game. There he stumbled across an old clip of UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma discussing the importance of a player’s body language on the bench. In the video, Auriemma explained why he believes you can measure how good of a teammate someone is by what they do when out of the game. Are they engaged and supportive? This stuff matters to Auriemma, who says he sometimes won’t play a player if their body language is lacking.

That message resonated with Thompson.

“[Earlier] this year, I’d be in my own feelings because I wasn’t shooting the ball well or I didn’t feel like myself,” Thompson said. “After hearing that, Geno has been around so much greatness, it reminded myself to be a leader. I’ve been here so long, I’ve got to lead. I’ve got to use my voice. That was a great challenge for me.”

With Curry and Wiggins out indefinitely, the Warriors will need more of that from Thompson going forward.

“One of the hardest things to do as a player is to kind of get outside of yourself and think about the group and to understand what the group needs,” Kerr said. “It becomes a different role as you get older and you have to take on more leadership. He’s got to be the guy encouraging the younger players and acknowledging mistakes and keeping the spirit up. And all that stuff is important and we need that from all of our older guys.”

It’s been rollercoaster season for Thompson. He had a slower ramp up than initially anticipated because a mental hurdle stemming from his torn Achilles tendon in November 2020, which prevented him from playing in pickup games over the summer. Then when he got back into the swing of the season, his shots weren’t falling. That forced him to press even more, which only exacerbated the issue.

Green pulled Thompson to the side on Nov. 18 for a heart-to-heart, telling his long-time teammate to be patient and trust the team. That mid-November conversation proved to be a turning point for Thompson’s season.

Since then, Thompson has shot 44.5% from the field, 43% from 3-point range and 90.5% from the free throw line. He’s drained 175 shots from beyond the arc in 35 games, the second most in the league — behind only Pacers guard Buddy Hield who’s made 182 in 48 games.

“I’m not satisfied with having a great new year performance, I want to sustain this all the way ’til June,” Thompson said. “I’m still so hungry to be great.”