Golden State Warriors: All-Decade Team for the 2010’s
Shooting Guard: Klay Thompson
The second half of the Splash Brothers is another shoo-in for the Golden State Warriors All-Decade team.
While he hasn’t been nearly as divisive as Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson has proven to be the perfect complement to Curry’s game. He provides even more efficient outside shooting. He brings the kind of defensive intensity that was hard to come by in earlier years.
The struggles in figuring out a backcourt that worked cohesively was an ongoing issue during the Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry era. Many believed that the team simply couldn’t succeed with that duo.
Curry’s pairing with Thompson has been decidedly different.
Thompson is not the ball-dominant, driving guard that Ellis was. He’s a catch-and-shoot specialist who can score from all areas of the floor.
And beyond that, his defensive ability has made him one of the top two-way players in the game. In any given season, Klay Thompson should be recognized as a top-five two-way player.
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Though Thompson has somehow only been selected for a single All-Defensive Second Team in his entire career, his defense can be depended on whether he’s keeping up with a quick, undersized guard, or a physical forward.
Thompson has put together five All-Star seasons since he made his rookie debut during the 2011-2012 season.
He hasn’t led the league in any single category, but his ability to score in bunches has been one of the must-see acts of the Warriors this past decade.
He still holds the regular-season record for most points scored in a single quarter — 37 points dropped on the Sacramento Kings.
He still holds the record for most three-pointers made in a single game — 14 threes against the Chicago Bulls as part of a 52-point game.
He holds the record for most three-pointers made in a single year of playoffs with 98. He holds the record for most three-pointers made in a playoff game with 11.
The game where he captured that final record is what makes his name synonymous with “Game 6.”
In a win-or-go-home Game 6, Thompson willed the Warriors to a Game 7 back at Oracle. The comeback even seemed improbable looking back at the highlights.
Shot after shot, Thompson’s shooting kept the Warriors in the game, on the road, in a hostile Oklahoma City environment. His record-setting tenth three-pointer from the logo tied the game with time winding down.
His eleventh allowed the Golden State Warriors to take the lead.
His collectiveness in moments like those makes Klay Thompson relatively underrated. But he’s enshrined himself as one of the two greatest shooters of all time.