Warriors’ Klay Thompson Responds to Benching Talk: ‘I Don’t Care What People Say’

Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images

Klay Thompson is a four-time champion and five-time All-Star, which he believes should buy him plenty of time to correct his relative struggles this season.

“What, do you want them to bench me?” he said somewhat dismissively when asked about head coach Steve Kerr being patient with the starting lineup.

“… Sometimes you earn these things like patience and time to find yourself. I think history is on our side when it comes to that stuff. I don’t care what people say. They don’t do what we do, they can’t do what we do. That’s why they talk.”

Klay Thompson bristles at question regarding Steve Kerr's patience with his starting lineup:

"What, do you want them to bench me?.. Sometimes you earn these things like patience and time to find yourself. I think history is on our side when it comes to that stuff." pic.twitter.com/o4s83nnVGN

— KNBR (@KNBR) November 28, 2023

It’s hard to argue with Thompson’s assertion.

After all, he is a franchise icon who helped the Warriors win four championships and reach the NBA Finals two other times since they selected him with a first-round pick in the 2011 draft. He is one of the best three-point shooters of all-time and has a long track record of thriving alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

Still, he is 33 years old and missed the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons with injuries before playing just 32 games in 2021-22. He isn’t the same player he was at his peak and is averaging 15 points per game behind 40.2 percent shooting from the field and 36.7 percent from deep.

The shooting totals would be the lowest of his career if they don’t change, while the scoring average is his lowest mark since he was a rookie.

Golden State is also just 8-9 on the season and attempting to find some consistency, although Thompson certainly didn’t seem to think that him coming off the bench would help it do that.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/10098910-warriors-klay-thompson-responds-to-benching-talk-i-dont-care-what-people-say