The Golden State Warriors have been without Stephen Curry for much of this season, but somehow they climbed to fifth in the Western Conference.
One reason is the play of Klay Thompson, who has had some big games lately, including two separate 42-point performances.
Warriors general manager Bob Myers praised not only Thompson’s play but also his leadership in an interview Wednesday with 95.7 The Game.
Bob Myers admires how Klay Thompson stepped up and led the Warriors in Steph Curry’s absence https://t.co/kJPoxZ5ui2
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 2, 2023
“His leadership,” Myers said of Thompson. “…What I love about Klay since January is that he’s kind of turned the team on his back in some ways, in games where Klay has won us the game.
“…He’s not the most demonstrative guy, but now he’s waving at the crowd, and he’s slapping his teammates and you can feel his willpower when you’re at games.”
It’s been a rough few years for Thompson, who not long ago was one of the NBA’s top two-way star wings.
He tore his ACL in the 2019 NBA Finals, which the Warriors lost to the Toronto Raptors, and the injury forced him to miss the entire following season.
Then just before the start of the 2020-21 campaign, Thompson tore his Achilles, sending him back to the dark dungeon of long-term rehabilitation.
Last season, he didn’t really start to look like himself until April, and even after that his attacking play tended to come and go.
So far this year, he’s averaging 22.1 points per game, and despite shooting a sub-42.7% total, he’s hitting 40.9% of his 3-point attempts.
But since early January, his overall field goal percentage has been more in line with what he did before his ACL injury in 2019.
With Curry set to return to action in the next few days, perhaps the Warriors will make a real push by mid-April.
If they do, they’ll be a really scary team come playoff time given their championship pedigree.
FOLLOWING:
NBA fans react to today’s Stephen Curry news
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