Klay Thompson had sat at the podium answering questions for six minutes. About his shooting slump to start the season. About the team’s all-around strong performance Thursday. About his first ever ejection from earlier in the week.
He wasn’t asked about how two nights earlier, Hall of Famer Charles Barkley said Thompson — and teammate Draymond Green — was “slipping.”
“There was a time when Klay Thompson was the best two-way guard in the NBA,” Barkley said. “And he’s not the same guy. That’s because of injuries. Is he done? No I don’t think he’s done. I think he’s slowing down.”
Before the game, Thompson’s fellow Splash Brother Stephen Curry said he was in good spirits, talking non-stop at shootaround. But Barkley’s comments clearly ate at him. If they didn’t, Thompson wouldn’t have grabbed the microphone for the last word.
“I’ve got one thing to say,” Thompsons began, unprompted.
“It hurts when someone like Charles Barkley, with the platform he has, says you’re not the same player prior to the injuries you had,” Thompson said. “Like, no duh, man. I tore my ACL and Achilles in consecutive years and still helped a team win a championship. It hurt hearing that. Because, man, I put in so much freaking effort to get back to this point. It’s hard to even put in words what I had to do to be the player I am today.”
Thompson shook his head incredulously as he delivered the soliloquy. He seemed genuinely affected by Barkley’s remarks.
“It’s like, I played 57 games in three years?,” Thompson said. “Give me some freaking time to get that back. To hear someone say ‘oh he’s not the same prior to the injuries,’ like duh. Who goes through something like that and comes back — I don’t know, it just hurt my heart hearing that. But you know what, I’m going to internalize it and it’s going to be fuel for me to be even better. I’m very proud of what we accomplished last year, and I feel like I was a huge part of it. I’m not going to let these injuries be a crutch for me. I’m just going to keep going and I’m going to have a great year. Bet on that.”
A torn ACL in the 2019 Finals and then a torn Achilles when he was on the verge of a return knocked Thompson out of NBA action for 941 days. He returned after two full seasons off last year, playing 54 combined regular season and postseason games.
In the playoffs, Thompson averaged 19 points and 3.9 rebounds per game on 38.5% shooting from 3. He’s quick to point out that only Curry has made more postseason 3s than him in NBA history.
Throughout his rehab and journey back to the court, Thompson has been vulnerable and open in public settings. On multiple occasions this year, he’s described a mental block that prevented him from playing 5-on-5 pickup in the offseason. His injuries taught him to never take anything for granted.
A minutes limit has frustrated Thompson so far this year and prevented him from finding his rhythm. He’s only shooting 30.9% from deep in five games, but both he and coach Steve Kerr have said that he’s accustomed to slow shooting starts and aren’t worried about a prolonged slump.
Thompson’s response to Barkley’s remarks came after his best game of the 2022-23 season in which he sank five of 14 3-pointers. He finished with 19 points on 19 shots in a season-high 29 minutes.
