© Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
If any player can score 60 points in his sleep, it’s Klay Thompson.
On Dec. 5, 2016, Thompson scored 40 points in the first half before adding another 20 in the third quarter. He didn’t play in the fourth quarter, adding to the mystique of his 60-point performance, the first Warrior to do so in 42 years.
One of the keys to Thompson’s prolific night: rest.
During a recent appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast, Kevin Durant said Thompson missed the team’s practice on the day prior to his scoring outburst.
Here is the dialogue between Durant and Simmons:
“The day before he had 60, Klay just missed practice,” Durant said. “He didn’t come. He just — nobody like, you know when practice starts, it’s like, ‘Where the hell is Klay?’ We called him, called him, called him. He didn’t come to practice. He just didn’t come. And the next night he had 60.”
“You still don’t know what happened?” Simmons said.
“Don’t know what happened,” Durant said. “I think he said, like, ‘Man, I was an hour late, two hours late. I was like, I might as well just stay in bed.’ Then he came out and had 60 and I was like, ‘this guy.’ If everybody in the world was like Klay, the universe would be better.”
Thompson is known for his laid-back, carefree attitude. Just look at SLAM Magazine’s recent cover of Thompson, wearing sunglasses, slouching back in a lawn chair, and resting his legs on a basketball.
He’s honest, low-key, and one of the greatest shooters ever — what’s not to like?
