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After a dominant 4-1 NBA Finals victory, rumors of a loaded Golden State Warriors squad coming apart started to roam the news wire. Klay Thompson quickly put those rumblings to rest after his team won a second title in three years:
“I don’t feel like I sacrificed at all… I’d rather be a part of something that could leave a legacy,” Thompson told ESPN's Zach Lowe. “There is more to basketball than getting yours, or being the guy. I hope I do this for a long time for the Warriors.”
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical, Thompson wasn't bluffing with the media when he said that:
“I’ve heard everything to the contrary (that Klay Thompson might want to leave). Exactly what Klay has said publicly is what he feels privately,” Wojnarowski said on his podcast. “He loves playing on this team.”
Thompson has always been a straight shooter since coming into the league (on and off the court), and his approach hasn't changed with the success he's gained through the years. Instead, it has strengthened his convictions and drive to win.
The long-range marksman was thought to have the most to sacrifice coming into a season where the team added another All-Star in Kevin Durant. Instead, it actually resulted in Klay's best scoring season to date, racking up 22.3 points per game and similar percentages from the field and the three-point line (he's shot over 40 percent from beyond the arc every year of his career).
The 6-foot-7 Washington State standout was actually only three points per game away from the averages of Stephen Curry and Durant, delivering a surprisingly even blow to NBA teams game after game. They made it a matter of who was the first to catch fire, rather than having a go-to scorer.
The Warriors have won at a record-setting pace during the past three seasons, and winning like they have been has just been too much fun for Thompson. That same fun is hard to have when the fate of a franchise revolves solely on your day-to-day performances — taking all the praise, but also all of the blame.
