Warriors' Thompson clarifies comments about new teammate Durant
The Golden State Warriors adding four-time scoring champion Kevin Durant this summer means three players who ranked in the top 30 in usage rate last season are now on the same team.
One of those players is "Splash Brother" Klay Thompson, who made headlines in August when he declared he won't be "sacrificing (expletive)" on offense just because Durant is now his teammate.
Thompson was asked to shed some light on those comments Monday during the Warriors' Media Day.
"When you acquire the talent we did this offseason, I don't think that's a sacrifice at all," Thompson said. "I think that we are in an amazing position to do things that haven't been done here.
"So I'm not talking about points per game or minutes or shots, I'm really not sacrificing anything because you don't sacrifice when you acquire a player like Kevin Durant and get people like David West. I think we really got stronger, which is hard to imagine because we had such a great year last year. That's what I meant by that, though."
Thompson was part of Golden State's July 1 recruitment pitch to Durant when he was holding meetings in the Hamptons, which should be enough of an indication he wasn't against the idea of him joining the roster in the first place.
| Player | FGA (NBA rank) | USG Rate (lNBA rank) |
|---|---|---|
| Kevin Durant | 19.2 (5) | 30.5 (9) |
| Stephen Curry | 20.2 (2) | 32.0 (3) |
| Klay Thompson | 17.3 (14) | 26.4 (27) |
| Draymond Green | 10.1 (106) | 18.6 (131) |
The two also had the opportunity to develop some early chemistry as teammates, capturing the gold medal on the U.S. men's national team during the Rio Olympic Games.
"I got to know him off the court, which was really cool," Thompson said of Durant. "I didn't really learn anything I didn't know from the basket player that he was, just a guy that really loves the game. He’s very unselfish. And he could have one of the biggest egos there, but he's really down to earth."
In 80 appearances in 2015-16, Thompson averaged a career high 22.1 points while shooting a scorching 42.5 percent from long range. It seems inevitable, though, that Durant will cut into his scoring and at least bring his points per game down, although his shooting percentages should remain on pair.