Klay Thompson was deeply affected by the Golden State Warriors‘ disheartening 53-point blowout loss to the Toronto Raptors on Friday. The injured Warriors superstar was in attendance during the 130-77 defeat and had some choice words for some of his teammates afterward.
Warriors swingman Kent Bazemore earlier spoke about the impact of losing to Dubs' championship players Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green.
Turns out, it's Thompson who has been hit by it the hardest and pleaded with his teammates to put on a much better effort after another demoralizing defeat, per Nick Friedell of ESPN.
Bazemore said Klay Thompson was not happy after the game with the way the Warriors played. Bazemore said that Klay's message to the group was that it was unacceptable to lose this way.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) April 3, 2021
Warriors rookie Nico Mannion also made it clear that Thompson approached some of the team's young players after the game.
Mannion clarified that Klay's message wasn't to the entire group — just talking to some players in the hallway. "I heard him in the hall a little bit just talking about 'We got to have a little more heart,' which I 100 percent agree with."
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) April 3, 2021
To say that Klay Thompson has had some challenging times over the last two years would be an understatement.
Warriors fans have already witnessed a dejected Klay looking helpless on the sidelines, each time his team gets outplayed on the floor. It's breaking his heart that he can't help his teammates on the floor, after suffering multiple career-threatening injuries in a span of two seasons.
The current state of the Warriors, after all, is a stark contrast to the dominant team that Thompson is accustomed to.
They were expected to return back to prominence this season, as the Splash Brothers were supposed to reunite and drain threes left and right. However, that just wasn't the case, as Thompson was forced to sit out for the second year in a row due to an ACL injury, while Curry has already been sidelined several times this season.
Thompson won't be back on the hardwood anytime soon. For now, he can only offer support and guidance to his teammates as they try to endure their latest tough stretch.