What’s great about Klay Thompson is
that he can make as much points as 41 and still gives the limelight to the
other half of Splash Brothers, Stephen Curry. An exact picture of what happened
in Game 6 Friday.
As an NBA player who has a remarkable
capability and able to pull up the team throughout the night, even made more 3
pointers (11) than anyone ever had in the playoffs, he still handed the finishing touches to
Stephen Curry, closing the almost do-or-die game against Oklahoma City Thunders.
Curry banking in a floater over Serge Ibaka to give the Warriors a five-point
lead with 14 seconds remaining.
It was Curry who basked in his
teammates' adulation as he returned to the bench; Curry who provided the
lasting image when he triumphantly held up seven fingers to signify forcing
Monday's Game 7 back in Oakland.
Thompson celebrates, too. He just
doesn't celebrate Klay Thompson, and that's just fine with him.
When Curry made his triumphant return
to these playoffs after missing four games with a knee injury and cockily proclaimed to the Portland crowd that he was back, Thompson was right behind
him, pointing at Curry, turning to the fans and chiming in with, "He's
back, boy!"
The strong bond between the Splash
Brothers is what makes them tick. Everything is cool and there’s no such thing
as sibling rivalry. Despite the fact that it is Curry who pops in all the
interviews, gets all the endorsements and exposures, and the fact that it’s
Curry who has been keeping Thompson from holding the title of the most
productive 3-point shooter in the league, Thompson did not bother being in the
shadows at all.
The only NBA player who ever made more
3s in a season than the 276 Thompson dropped this year is Curry, who made 286
last season and a bazaar 402 this year. Curry and Thompson have been 1-2 in 3
pointers in each of the past three seasons, and Curry has been the league's Most
Valuable Player the past two.
"Klay doesn't mind,"
Warriors assistant coach Luke Walton said. "I don't even know how much
Klay wants [the attention]. He just loves the game of basketball, loves coming
to the gym, getting his work in."
Walton has seen just about every
relationship dynamic in the league, beginning with the all-time low of the
Kobe-Shaq feud during his rookie season with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2003-04.
He's never witnessed a togetherness like this Warriors team has shown.
"It's very rare," Walton
said. "I don't think it exists in most places in the NBA."
For those who know the Thompson
family, some say that Klay’s character is more like his mother, Julie, while
his ability to overcome his ego came from his father Mychal, a 6-foot-10 center
who played 13 years in the NBA and a former No. 1 overall pick by the Portland
Trail Blazers who came off the bench for the Lakers in three of his four
seasons in L.A. at the end of his career. Those happened to be the three
seasons the Lakers went to the NBA Finals in his time there, producing two
championships.
"My Lakers teams, Magic was the
face of the franchise," Mychal said. "The rest of us benefited from
winning. There was no jealousy."
When Curry went off on his 15-point
scoring spree in middle of the third quarter of Game 2 of the Western
Conference finals, Thompson was essentially unguarded the entire time. Not once
did Thompson call for the ball, even when he was open by the hoop while Curry
launched a 3. (When it went in Thompson uncorked an over-the-top fist pump).
“We don’t put our egos in the way,”
Thompson said when asked about the Splash Brother’s relationship earlier this
season.
"We don't put our egos in the
way," Thompson said when I asked him about the Splash Brothers'
relationship earlier this season. "I think we're pretty selfless people.
We don't really care about the individuality of the game. That will come with
all the accolades.”
"Winning takes such a precedent.
When we win, everyone gets all the love."
Source: ESPN
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