Thompson pact good for player, Warriors
So much of NBA discourse revolves around the future, truth giving way to rampant speculation, but here’s a pretty safe bet for the best inseason acquisition next year:
The Warriors got Klay Thompson. For nothing.
When Golden State locked up Thompson on Sunday with a fiveyear, $190 million deal, they couldn’t help but look ahead to his return from knee surgery — perhaps sometime in March, to take an optimistic look. While other teams scramble to add stars to their rotation, the Warriors will suddenly unveil one of the best pure shooters in the history of man.
What a pleasant notion to stash in your back pocket. The Giants are another Bay Area team in transition, but nobody
has a clue what the team will look like in September, let alone next year. Even with Kevin Durant headed for Brooklyn, the Warriors can look forward to a Splash Brothers resurrection — probably just in time, considering that the team might be involved in a hectic Western Conference race to the postseason.
As Durant put it so well earlier this season, on the ThompsonStephen Curry combination: “Two best shooters ever to walk the earth. Probably nobody will shoot like those two, ever again.”
There are no guarantees when it comes to ACL surgery, but modernday medical treatment has become so sophisticated, athletes can expect 100 percent recovery if they play it smart during rehabilitation. Thompson has established himself as one of the toughest athletes in recent NBA history, idolizing Kobe Bryant during his youth in Southern California and proving to be a worthy match in his tolerance for pain.
Most athletes would dismiss the idea of returning so late in a season, preferring to just start fresh the next time around. That doesn’t sound like Thompson. He’s a baller. It’s against his basic nature to let an entire season go by. His entire history suggests he’d like to be available to the Warriors next season.
A favorite story in the Thompson family recalls his Little League days, when he broke his foot, didn’t tell anybody, and competed (as a pitcher) until the discomfort became intolerable. He played through a high ankle sprain — an injury known to sideline some players for weeks — in the 2018 NBA Finals, and when a tender hamstring threatened his status in this year’s Finals against Toronto, he missed only Game 3.
Thompson’s fierce work ethic tells him to get out there and perform, with your friends, and not let anyone down. That’s it, period, end of story. So you can imagine the tenor of his rehabilitation program, surely overseen by his trusted bulldog:
Klay: “Don’t worry, Rocco. I’m gonna be back on the court in no time.” Rocco: “Arf.” The Chronicle’s Ann Killion made a great point about Thompson in April, comparing him to Giants legend Willie McCovey: humble, softspoken, dramafree and a huge crowd favorite on a starladen team. Another connection: fear.
For all of the opponents’ concern about Willie Mays and Orlando Cepeda, McCovey was flatout the most feared hitter in the National League. Nobody ever unveiled a shooter’s repertoire quite like Curry’s, but who else — anywhere — scored 37 points in a quarter (2015 against Sacramento)? Scored 60 points in 29 minutes (2017 against Indiana)? Poured in 43 points while dribbling the ball just four times (2018 against the Knicks)? Not to mention the clutch playoff performances that have kept the likes of James Harden, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook and, yes, Durant from living out their dreams.
(Thompson’s Game 6 masterpiece in Oklahoma City, in the 2016 Western Conference finals, allowed the Warriors to finish off that series and convince Durant he needed a new setting.)
Thompson’s shooting form has been a constant talking point among the greats, young and old. Jerry West saw a bit of himself in Thompson, and in his days as a Golden State consultant, West made sure the team never seriously considered trading him. Thompson says he learned a lot from the great Chris Mullin, and the admiration was mutual, Mullin telling the Ringer: “Klay’s shot is effortless because of his legs and tremendous core strength. I’ve never seen a guy like him.
“There’s no way to be that good,” Mullin went on, “without a discipline and a strong work ethic. Yet he has a beautiful, carefree, laidback personality. It’s an incredible mix.”
All of which adds up to a soothing tonic for Curry, certain to feel some exasperation early next season when teams attack him with traps, doubleteams, even three players trying to deny him the ball. Times will get better for Curry — hard to figure how new acquisiton D’Angelo Russell fits into the picture —and it’s a pretty strong message for the fans, as well. Like a grand bit of theater, Chase Center’s maiden season will get rolling right around the third act.