Amid a slow start to the 2022-23 NBA season, Klay Thompson had been simmering for a few days. He let some of his anger out on Tuesday night when he was ejected in the Warriors’ loss to the Phoenix Suns.
The rest of Thompson’s pent-up frustration came out at the end of his postgame press conference following the Warriors’ rebounding win over the Miami Heat on Thursday night at Chase Center.
The Warriors shooter caught wind of comments from TNT’s Charles Barkley after Golden State’s 29-point loss to the Suns, and two days later, after fielding questions from reporters, Thompson ended his press conference by calling the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
“I have one thing to say,” Thompson said after the Warriors beat the Heat 123-120 on Thursday. “So it hurts when someone like Charles Barkley, with the platform he has, says you’re not the same player before the injuries you had. It’s like ‘No, duh , dude. Consecutive years, like. I tore my ACL and Achilles for consecutive years and still helped the team win a championship. It hurts to hear that because I put so much effort into getting back to this point. It’s even hard to put into words what I had to do to be the player I am today.
“I’ve played 55, 57 games in three years. Give me some time to recover from that. To hear someone say ‘Oh, he’s not the same player he was before the injuries.’ Like, duh. Who goes through this and comes back… I don’t know, it just hurt my heart to hear that. But you know, I’m gonna internalize it and it’s gonna be fuel for me d ‘being equal I’m very proud of what we achieved last year and I feel like I contributed a lot to it. I’m not going to let these injuries be a crutch for me. I’m just going to keep going and I I’m going to have a great year, you can bet on that.
Thompson was not playing well against the Suns when he started playing with Devin Booker. In the third quarter, Thompson was ejected, finishing with just two points in the loss.
Shortly after the match, Barkley felt emboldened to go on a rant about Thompson and Draymond Green.
“This team is older, Ernie [Johnson]. That’s what’s really happening to them,” Barkley said on “Inside the NBA” Tuesday. “They’re older. Go back and watch the finals, who were the guys that helped them win? It was [Andrew] Wiggins and [Jordan] Poole…it’s gonna be up to these young guys, [Jonathan] Kuminga, [Moses] Moody, Poole and [James] Wise man. Because I think even though I like Klay, he slips. Same thing with Draymond. They are not the same. In the final you can see they are not the same guys as they were two or three years ago. So when I watch the Warriors play, I go “oh man, Father Time is knocking on some of these guys.”
“These guys have won four championships, it’s like playing two or three extra seasons,” Barkley continued. “They’re past their thirties (years), you factor in Klay who’s had two major surgeries. I think you saw tonight that he’s like ‘this young boy is kicking my ass, there’s nothing I can do about it . “There was a time when Klay Thompson was the best two-way guard in the NBA and he’s not the same guy anymore and that’s because of injuries. Is he done? No, I don’t think not that he’s finished. I think he’s slowing down and it’s catching up with him, which is why he’s frustrated.
“I think the same with Draymond, he slows down, we just saw him in the final. Because his game is energy driven and once you get past 30 you start losing – especially if you play deep in the playoffs every year – – that’s why I said Steph [Curry] has a lot more work to do now, these young guys are really going to have to step up or this team is not going to win the championship if these young guys don’t start carrying the team.”
Thompson rebounded with a 19-point performance against the Heat. He shot 6 of 19 from the field and 5 of 14 from 3-point range.
Curry was asked about Thompson’s post-match comments and noted that he felt his longtime mate had been in good spirits all day, likely because he was fueled by what Barkley had said.
“Feedback is part of our success, as you’re always going to be in the spotlight and people care about how you play and care about commenting positively or negatively because they know it will move the needle,” Curry told reporters after the win Thursday. “And when you say certain names people are going to pay attention. But it’s interesting because some guys forget what their careers looked like from the back. So you can kind of throw and throw those rocks but Klay is still there. , as you say, helping us win a championship after the two hellish years he’s had.
“And now it’s just about balancing, for him, the expectations of where he was before the injuries and what he can come back to, while maintaining his impact on winning. I’m sure he compare to stat lines and percentages and all that, but I think I heard coach [Steve Kerr] talk about it earlier. He’s been there, even before injuries, where slow starts don’t really hold him back, kill his confidence. But when you come out of a championship you have such a hunger and desire to get back to where he wants to be personally. And it will get there. It’s just a matter of sticking to the program, on time. Its competitive fire that comes out every night. And he’s going to hit. We are not worried about this. It’s a long season.”
Thompson’s stated personal goal is to return to NBA All-Star form, and he knows it will take time to get back to that level. He just wishes Barkley understood that.
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