The last time Klay Thompson came off the bench was in March 2012. He was 22 years old then and an unproven rookie. Monta Ellis was ahead of him. Nate Robinson came off the bench next to him. The Golden State Warriors faced the LA Clippers. Chauncey Billups, now 47 and head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, was on that Clippers team.
Initially, Thompson was elevated to the starting lineup due to Stephen Curry’s ankle issue and the Monta Ellis trade. That Clippers game was the end of Curry’s third season. He left after nine minutes and would sit out the last month. When Curry returned the following season, Thompson was the established starter. The Splash Brothers were formed.
More than a decade later, Thompson’s streak of consecutive starts extended to 727 games. He finished Thursday night in Utah, the predominant story in the Warriors’ eventual 140-137 victory.
Steve Kerr replaced his four-time NBA champion with Brandin Podziemski, a rookie who had recently surpassed Thompson and better completed the five-man group alongside Curry, Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga and Draymond Green, according to the data. In explaining the postgame decision, Kerr pointed to that lineup’s eye-catching statistics. They have outscored their opponents by 57 points in 107 minutes.
The numbers indicated that this measure was rational and perhaps necessary. Thompson is shooting career lows from the field and from 3 this season. The Warriors are fighting for postseason survival, entering Thursday with a 26-26 record, 10th in the Western Conference.
But that didn’t simplify the conversation. Kerr said he had been thinking about it for a while and decided to do it Thursday, a night after Kerr kept Thompson out of the Warriors’ final lineup again before inserting him as a spacer at the last minute and watching Thompson commit a intentional and mistaken foul against the Clippers. He informed Thompson of the decision Thursday morning in Utah.
“I wasn’t excited about it,” Kerr told reporters. “I didn’t expect him to be excited about it.”
But what an answer Thompson gave. He came out scorching, putting up his highest point total of the season before he finished the third quarter. He had 17 points in 11 minutes of the first half, accomplishing closing duties, which included a nice transition in the final minute of the second quarter to Green, who finished with 23 points, his most since 2018. The Warriors scored 84 in the first . half.
“You can do two things: you can pout or you can come out and respond.”
Klay reveals how he changed his mindset leaving the bench after a talk with Kerr 👏 pic.twitter.com/jC9XALO57c
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 16, 2024
Thompson didn’t calm down after halftime. He scored 18 in a torrid third quarter, giving him 35 points. That’s where he finished, making 13 of his 22 shots and seven of his 13 3-pointers, a classic performance that helped the Warriors hold off the Jazz in a shootout even though they nearly blew another big lead by final. Thompson also made a big defensive play with 74 seconds left, stopping a Keyonte George drive and forcing a trip. It was Thompson’s best game of the season.
“The fuel that fueled his competitiveness was the decision I made,” Kerr said. “He is a great competitor. I’ve seen him make a million big shots. I’ve seen him defend the toughest guys in the league. Klay is a champion. He is an incredible player, a great person. I have been lucky enough to train him. It has been a complicated season for him and for us. There are many transitions happening. Some of our younger guys are coming in. It’s not that easy to do what Klay did for him five or six years ago. “I think this could be a good balance to get the best out of Klay and get the best out of our team.”
Kerr said he plans to keep Podziemski in the starting lineup and Thompson off the bench after the All-Star break, saying the move is not “permanent,” but he wants to give him a healthy look.
“Klay coming off the bench gives us a lot of firepower,” Kerr said.
(Klay Thompson Photo: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
