The Golden State Warriors' run throughout the 2010s is highly regarded as one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history. At the heart of this dynasty was their homegrown core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. Even with the arrival of Kevin Durant in 2016, the Curry-Thompson-Green trio was still considered the base of their success.
With that being said, a former NBA player believes that those Warriors teams could have had more success with a different player. Patrick Beverley, who had plenty of experience battling against Golden State at the height of their powers, had some bold thoughts on Klay Thompson. The former NBA point guard said that if you had replaced Klay Thompson with Paul George, the Warriors would have won more rings.
“If you put Paul George in that role as Klay Thompson, playing with Steph [Curry], Draymond Green, and [Andre] Iguodala… I think that Golden State probably wins more championships,” Beverley said on his podcast, “The Pat Bev Show”.
“If you put Paul George in that role as Klay Thompson, playing with Steph [Curry], Draymond Green, and [Andre] Iguodala… I think that Golden State probably wins more championships.”
— Patrick Beverley 👀
(via @PatBevPod)pic.twitter.com/uMJsz31eS4
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 23, 2025
Was Paul George a better player than Klay Thompson? In some aspects, yes. Thompson was the second option on the Warriors by design, while George blossomed into one of the best two-way stars in the league. In 2018, George placed third in MVP voting during his first season with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The forward had many years where he was the go-to guy of his team.
However, success as the first option would not necessarily translate into success as the secondary option. What made the Warriors special during that time period was that you had to worry about two all-time great shooters off the catch.
What Thompson lacked in self-creation, he more than made up for with his shooting prowess. Second only to Curry at the time, Thompson's off-ball shooting was the perfect complement to Curry's all-around shooting. He was also an elite if a bit underrated defender at the time.
Thompson's shooting saved the Warriors countless times during their postseason runs. There's a reason why the legend of Game 6 Klay Thompson was born in the 2010s: he would just get hot at the right time. Perhaps George could replicate some of the success of Thompson, but the latter's shooting was unparalleled at the time.
This isn't to say that the Warriors would be worse off with George instead of Thompson. But saying that they would've won more with George is doing a massive disservice to Thompson's contributions to the dynasty.
