Getty Warriors star Klay Thompson
After the Golden State Warriors blew out the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the Western Conference Semifinals, Klay Thompson told reporters he’s going to play extremely hard in Games 3 and 4 in Los Angeles to honor Kobe and Gigi Bryant.
Thompson grew up a Lakers fan, so Kobe was his favorite player as a kid.
“I have so much respect for just the opportunity ahead for me,” Thompson said. “I’m a huge Kobe fan obviously. He was my biggest inspiration and I’m just gonna play my hardest to just honestly honor him and Gigi cuz without his play and all those years of me viewing his tenacity on the court, I would not be the athlete I am today.”
Kobe and Gigi tragically passed away in January 2020 in a helicopter crash. Thompson is looking forward to Games 3 and 4 since he’ll be playing at home and in the arena where he watched Kobe become a legend.
“I’m gonna be myself. I’m gonna play hard on both ends. I’m gonna hunt great shots,” Thompson said. “But just from a life standpoint, it’s such an incredible experience to play in front of my friends and family. I mean, I would go to Staples [Center] as a high school basketball player with my pops, just dreaming of playing on that floor, playing against the best in the world. Now to be here and be a part of it, I don’t lose sight of that perspective of how great this opportunity is and I’m just excited to do it in a building where all my hoop dreams came about.”
LeBron James: Klay Thompson Was Special in Game 2
Thompson was unstoppable in Game 2, finishing with 30 points while shooting 11-of-18 from the field and 8-of-11 from beyond the arc. After the game, Lakers superstar LeBron James name-dropped Thompson during his postgame press conference.
“You give credit where credit is due,” James said. “Klay was spectacular tonight.”
Austin Reaves is struggling to guard Thompson, who scored 25 points in Game 1. The Lakers may have to put someone else on the Warriors star, who is averaging 22.1 points in these playoffs while shooting 40.0% from 3-point land.
Anthony Davis: I’ll Be Better in Game 3
Lakers big man Anthony Davis vowed to be better in Game 3 after playing poorly in Game 2. The eight-time All-Star had only 11 points in 33 minutes.
“I took all the same shots I took in Game 1,” Davis said. “Just missed ’em. Elbow jumpers. Pocket passes to the floater. Same exact looks. (I) didn’t shoot no shot that I didn’t shoot in Game 1. Just missed ’em. That’s all. Like Bron said, they made adjustments. Shot the ball extremely well from 3. So, we’ll be better. I’ll be better (at) making those shots. Get back home on our home floor and try to take care of business.”
Warriors forward Draymond Green was the primary defender on Davis in Game 2. The one-time Defensive Player of the Year said on his podcast that he tried to make Davis take tough shots.
“Got him to miss some shots,” Green said. “Really wanted to make sure I was gettin’ a contest. And if he hit shots, you have to live with that. AD’s a great player as we all know. Future Hall of Famer, NBA champion, perennial All-Star, you name it, both ends of the floor. Absolutely incredible player. And I think my mindset was just to make it tough on him. No secret sauce. Like it’s just to make him take tough shots. If you could make a guy take tough shots, you have to live with the results because a guy like that, like you don’t shut down great players like Anthony Davis. You just try to make them take tough shots and you live with the results. And I think we did a lot better job on him tonight. He finished with 11 (points), seven (rebounds) and four (assists). Last game he had 30 (points), 23 (rebounds) and five (assists).
“So it was obviously well known that we needed to do a much better job on AD coming into this game and I can’t take all the credit for that. So when you’re guarding a guy like that, it’s a complete team effort and our guys did the job collectively. And we were able to give AD to have a tough night.”