Klay Thompson’s effort against the Orlando Magic on Thursday was one of the few bright spots during the Golden State Warriors‘ recent five-game road trip. It was that contest that finally saw Thompson break out after an underwhelming start to the new campaign.
Playing a season-high 34 minutes for the Dubs, Thompson also set a new scoring high with 27 points on 10-of-14 shooting, including seven three-point bombs.
Given the incredible progress that the five-time All-Star showed in the game, he was raring to hop back onto the court the following night against the New Orleans Pelicans. But it wasn’t to be, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr and his brain trust opted to hold him out of the contest.
In his first meeting with the media following the Dubs’ return to the Bay, Thompson sounded off on being benched in the back-to-back situation.
Klay Doesn’t Want to Be Handled With Kiddie Gloves, But…
What is Andre doing?? 😂
Make no mistake — Thompson isn’t exactly a spring chicken at this stage, and his injury history has to be considered when the Warriors are making calls on his playing status. It also bears repeating that Thompson didn’t play pick-up all summer and was frequently kept on the sidelines during the early stages of training camp and preseason ball.
As such, he doesn’t blame his team or its medical staff for wanting to load/injury-manage him in back-to-backs. Of course, that doesn’t mean that the baller has to like it.
“So, it never sits right with me, but I also understand that we have a huge goal and that’s winning a championship so maybe it’s not full throttle just yet,” Thompson said during Sunday’s post-practice media session.
He didn’t stop there, though, going so far as to openly campaign for some back-to-back action.
“As the season wears on and I get in that peak physical shape — which I’m very close to — it would be nice to play in some of those. Maybe not all of them, but a good amount.”
There’s a chance that the Warriors stand to benefit from giving in to Thompson’s wishes, too. During the 2018-19 campaign — the baller’s last pre-injury saga season — he logged a 23-3-3 line and connected on just under 40% of his triples in no-rest situations. And he was equally good in 2017-18.
Warriors Send Rookies to the Sea Dubs
Per an announcement from the team on Sunday rookie forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. and his first-year cohort, guard Ryan Rollins, were both assigned to Golden State’s G League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors.
Baldwin, who was selected with the 28th overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, has appeared in just two games for the Warriors and played only five total minutes. He missed his only field-goal attempt and has yet to record any other statistics for his team.
Rollins, meanwhile, has made four appearances for Golden State. While his first three came in mop-up duty, the second-round pick played a season-high nine minutes against the Pels on Friday and scored seven points on 2-of-4 shooting.
The Sea Dubs tipped off their 2022-23 campaign with a win over the Ontario Clippers on Friday at Kaiser Permanente Arena before losing their second game against the same club the following night.
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Warriors Star Klay Thompson Gets Brutally Honest About His Usage