Thompson savors All- Star weekend, Warriors’ role

The Golden State Warriors are the just the eighth team in NBA history to send four players to the All- Star Game. But this group — Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green — is a bit different from those of recent years.

Of the three other four- man groups that have earned the AllStar nod since 2000 — the 2015 Atlanta Hawks ( Al Horford, Kyle Korver, Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague), 2011 Boston Celtics ( Rajon Rondo, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett) and 2006 Detroit Pistons ( Chauncey Billups, Richard Hamilton, Ben Wallace and Rasheed Wallace) — no players had been selected to the starting lineup. Until now ( Curry and Durant).

So as the Warriors head into the All- Star break with another piece of history on their résumé, we asked Thompson: What’s it like to play alongside three legitimate All- Stars every night?

“It makes my life easy, I’ll tell you that much,” Thompson, whose record- breaking 60- point performance ( in 29 minutes) in December was yet another example of this group’s capabilities, told USA TODAY Sports. “It can be any of us to go off every night. Draymond can get you a near triple- double every night. Steph can do his thing, just rain threes, push the pace. KD is probably the most effortless scorer I’ve ever played with — actually he is, not even close.

“It’s such a unique situation.”

A unique situation, to say the least.

“I mean, it’s great,” Thompson continued. “Especially, I see it on the road a lot, when we go to these other arenas. These guys have their individual fan base themselves, guys like Steph and KD, and then you pile that on top of the success our Warriors team has had, it’s cool to see this fan base we have on the road. I used to see this while I was a kid with the Lakers. ... It makes an 82game season a ton of fun.”

Fun as it might be, Thompson, making his third All- Star Game appearance in a row, doesn’t take these opportunities for granted.

“( All- Star Weekend) is something I really look forward to, to be honest,” Thompson said. “A vacation would be nice, but I can wait until the offseason.

“To be considered one of the 24 best basketball players in the world? Yeah, I look forward to it. Especially being able to defend the three- point title again, that’s gonna be a lot of fun.

“The All- Star Game was something I really loved to watch ( as a kid), and now to be a part of it three years in a row is something I definitely look forward to. I’m trying to get used to it, because I will hopefully do this for a long time, because it truly is an honor to be an All- Star.

“My dad ( Mychal) always tells me, because he was never able to be an All- Star, for him to tell me to take advantage, I most certainly will.”

TROY TAORMINA, USA TODAY SPORTS “The All- Star Game was something I really loved to watch ( as a kid), and now to be a part of it three years in a row is something I definitely look forward to,” said Warriors guard Klay Thompson, right. “I’m trying to get used to it, because I will...