Klay Thompson is having the worst shooting season of his career, hitting just 33.7 percent of his threes on the year. Considering Thompson has never shot below 40 percent in a season, it’s rather jarring to see him barely connecting on a third of his attempts.
Despite Thompson’s tough shooting season — and a horrific shooting year from Draymond Green — the Warriors continue to press on at the top of the Western Conference standings. That’s the luxury of having two former MVPs on your roster to pick up the slack when one of the three greatest three-point shooters of all time is in a slump.
Thompson doesn’t want to call it a slump, and doesn’t seem all that concerned about early season shooting woes. He continues to note that shots will fall and all that matters is that they go down in the playoffs, while also wondering aloud as to who could possibly help him with his shot at this point.
Klay Thompson: "I'd rather have (shots) fall in playoff time than December. Just because I've had a few bad games in a row, I'm not going to worry about not shooting the ball well. I'm one of the best shooters to ever play, so I don't care what people say."
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 27, 2018
Klay Thompson: “What is somebody going to tell me about my jump shot that I can’t fix? Unless it’s Reggie Miller or Ray Allen, I don’t know who I’m supposed to listen to. Larry Bird? Steve Kerr. I’ll listen to Steve. Steve shot 45 percent.” pic.twitter.com/GCfSmymz96
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 27, 2018
The funniest part of the video is when he comes to the realization that his coach, Steve Kerr, is indeed one of the few on the planet who could possibly provide that help. However, his point stands, and it seems like a thing he’ll just have to shoot his way out of. Reggie Miller responded not long after the video made its rounds on Twitter to say he wouldn’t say anything to Klay other than to keep shooting.
https://t.co/aCA9x2WR5N SHOOTERS SHOOT!! Even I wouldn’t say anything to this man, he’s one of the best shooters to ever live, ZERO concern from my end!! “Mama called him Klay”, do you Brotha!! SHOOTERS SHOOT 🤘🏾..
— Reggie Miller (@ReggieMillerTNT) December 27, 2018
The best news for Thompson is that he has carte blanche to continue firing away without any concerns of damaging the Warriors in the regular season. His teammates and the Warriors coaches don’t want him to change his approach in any way, because they know the importance of, if nothing else, the threat of his spacing.
That said, once the playoffs roll around Golden State will need that percentage to rise if they are to remain the most dominant force in the NBA postseason. If Thompson isn’t an elite-level shooter come playoff time, the Warriors still could very well win it all, but it would make for a far more daunting task and leave the door ajar a bit for other Western Conference contenders.
