Reflecting on Klay Thompson as a Warrior: 14 threes vs the Bulls
Greatest long range shooting night in NBA history.
As tensions reach a fever pitch in Dub Nation about the potential departure of beloved franchise cornerstone Klay Thompson in free agency, there’s a lot to remember about his greatness as a Golden State Warrior.
Today I want to take the time to go through some of my favorite Killa Klay moments, with commentary from sports outlets surrounding the historic exploits of one of the greatest players in NBA history.
In this article, let’s reflect on Klay setting the all-time NBA single game three-points made record, lighting up the Chicago Bulls in 2018 with 14 treys.
Bonus points for doing it against head coach Steve Kerr’s former team?
ESPN
“It’s the best feeling,” Thompson said of being in the zone. “Something I haven’t felt in the first six, seven games. To snap out of a slump with the record, I couldn’t ask for a better way to do it. And I’m just going to continue this momentum on Wednesday, and it’s one of the best feelings in basketball when you touch the ball and feel like it’s going in every time.”
Thompson received a loud ovation from the United Center crowd after knocking down the record-setting triple, breaking teammate Stephen Curry’s mark of 13 3-pointers in a game. It was a record Thompson and his teammates took great pride in. There was a gleeful joy within the Warriors’ locker room as Thompson left with the game ball and his game jersey in hand.
“I really believe, I don’t know if I would have been able to break the records I have got in my past, just like tonight, without the system I play in or the team I’m with or the guys I play with,” Thompson said. “Because they knew even before I went out for the second half. Steph looked at the box score and said, ‘Go get it.’ And that just shows you the unselfishness that is within him. Same with KD and Draymond and DJ and everyone else that was out there on the floor trying to find me and get me good looks.”
Curry and his teammates knew Thompson was rolling at a historic pace but didn’t want to jinx the performance in the process.
“It was like a pitcher throwing a no-hitter,” Curry said. “Like, you don’t really mention anything to him. It’s kind of just everybody else figuring out ways we’re going to keep feeding him the ball and running our offense to obviously cater to him to knock down shots.”
NBC Sports Bay Area
But the Warriors star often wonders what could have been.
“Gosh, you look back and only played three quarters and you’re like, ‘Man, I could have got 16, 17, 18,’ “ Thompson told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kelenna Azubuike for “A Decade In The Bay,” which airs Friday night before the Warriors face the Bulls at Chase Center. “But you just have to use that as motivation to do it next time. Gosh, three quarters man. What if I got to play the fourth quarter? I always think that to myself.”
Steph Curry, who should break Ray Allen’s NBA record for most career 3-pointers this season, still believes he can break Thompson’s mark.
“I’m still gunning for Klay,” Curry said.
But how many long-range bombs does Curry believe he can hit in a single game? Can he hit 17?
“That’s tough,” Curry said. “You see how many defenders we get now. So, that’s going to be tough. There’s going to be a game where it goes your way and you make everything and you get enough looks that the attention might change, you know, third or fourth quarter like, ‘I’m going after this.’ “
Golden State of Mind
When one thinks of stars, supersized egos immediately come to mind. The “me” mentality, the god complex where one thinks he cannot do anything wrong — that the entire team depends on him, and that without him, the team is nothing. The NBA has seen plenty of that this offseason, particularly in the confines of the Twin Cities.
Not in the Bay Area. Not in the two-time MVP and the greatest shooter of all time. Not in the 2013-14 MVP, the two-time Finals MVP, and perhaps the deadliest scorer the league has ever seen. Not in the former Defensive Player of the Year.
And most certainly, not in perhaps the lowest maintenance star to have ever existed in the NBA.
Klay Thompson seems like he lives in his own world for most of the time. It’s probably a world where he thinks of a variety of things: how he can improve his three-point shooting, which Instagram pictures to like, what to feed Rocco when he gets home, etc.
One thing he never seems to think about is how he’s not getting enough touches. He never complains about his struggles on the court; he never calls out teammates for not doing their part, and he has never wavered or even shown a hint of discouragement when he is in the middle of a shooting funk.