Ulrich said:
Kellso said:
Ulrich said:
I don't want to reduce it to counting stats, but Klay Thompson is somewhere outside the top 250 scorers in NBA history. That's as far as the list on basket reference goes so I'm not sure exactly where he lands.
110 players have a first team all-NBA selection. 98 additional guys have a second team selection. Klay is not on either list.
Thompson is a really good player, but there have been a LOT of really good players in the history of the NBA. I think there's some recency/availability bias at work to put Thompson in the top 75 over so many other guys. Those stats imply that he's in the 200s which seems too low, probably more like 100-125.
Well...you are.
Defense also counts.
Klay Thompson has sacrificed his stats into being one of the key cogs on a dynastic basketball team.
He's also a great defensive player in addition to being an incredible shooter.
He once scored 37 points in a single quarter. There is no doubt in my mind he could average 25-30 each night if he wanted to....but I don't think the Warriors would be anywhere as good.
By the time his career is over, he will probably have earned a spot on the 100 players / 100 years list. That's very impressive for someone who, nearing the end of his physical peak, has never been considered a top ten all-around player by the panel.
I'll admit. Im a fan of Klay Thompson.
He is the most badass shooter I've ever seen in person. That ball comes out his hand like a missile and the ball goes through the net with force.
I compare Thompson to Troy Aikman. Troy had the arm talent to put up fantastic numbers (like a Dan Marino, or Brett Favre) but he sacrificed his stats because the 1990's Cowboys offense was based off of being a dominant rushing team which led to 3 Super Bowls.
We are at a point now (20 years later) where you have people looking back and seeing Aikman's less than stellar stats and trying to state that he was overrated, or that any above average quarterback would have accomplished the same thing.
The stats don't take into account Aikman decision making, or other intangibles.
The main criticism I see of Klay Thompson is that he is just a spot up shooter with average regular season offensive stats.
Its my opinion that Klay could easily show more offensive variety and average 25-30/night if he was not tasked with also being the Warriors main perimeter defender.
This comes from watching Klay once score 37 in a quarter, and having another game where he scored 60 in 3 quarters. The highlights of each of those games (along with Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals when he hit 11 threes) are
UNBELIEVABLE.
There are a minuscule amount of players in the history of the NBA that could ever do something like that
Unlike Steph Curry....Klay is elite on both sides of the floor.
