CJ McCollum was SURPRISED to see Klay Thompson come off the bench 👀 | NBA Today

CJ McCollum was SURPRISED to see Klay Thompson come off the bench 👀 | NBA Today

We got to show you what went down in the final night of the first half of the NBA season specifically we need to get into Klay Thompson who was in Salt Lake City the site of last year’s Allstar Weekend Kendrick Perkins this is how it went

Down Klay Thompson he came off the bench for the first time since March 11th 2012 first quarter here Klay Thompson takes a little catch and shoot three makes it his mama call him clay I’mma call him clay and look this was motivation for clay Thompson right and and good

Motivation right coming in off the bench not hanging his head showing true professionalism and getting buckets we all know Clay was destined for one of these moments but the fact that he put his mind right and came out and was Lighting Utah up last night was a

Beautiful thing to see he had 10 points in the first quarter and then he had 17 in the first half he just kept it going into the third twoo Klay Thompson another pullup three here then clay oh got got another one perk absolutely and look all types of action using the pick

And roll the pump fake look at Klay flexing right there good for him 35 points through three quarters for clay but this one would come down to the wire 10 seconds to go here Larry Markin in from the corner that one no good John Collins watch him here he’s able to

Secure the rebound but then where’s he going he throws it into the fifth row I started ducking you know the Golden State Warriors they played in some close games this season so everyone was sort of on the edge of their seat in this one but

Utah had one final chance to send it to overtime couldn’t quite get it to go that would be the end of this one Klay Thompson has a season high off the bench here’s what he had to say about that after game you do two things you can

Pout or you can go out there and respond and I thought I did the ladder very well tonight I mean I deserved it really I didn’t didn’t respond to the not playing at the end of the game well last night I kind of took it out on the assistant

Coaches and I apologize to those guys before the game and I think that really let my guard down let me just be myself out there it’s been a tricky season for him and for us um there’s a lot of transition happening some of our younger

Guys are coming on um it’s not as easy to do you know what Clay did five six years ago for him um I think this could be a you know a good good balance to to to get the best out of clay and to get the best out of our

Team so clay played in his first game as a reserve in nearly 12 years but he more than made up for that right his 35 points against the Jazz it was a season high for clay it was also the most points he scored in any game off the

Bench because before last night he’d never even reached the 20 point mark as a reserve so there’s been so much made CJ about the two timelines right of Golden State now you’re seeing Brandon psky get the start you’re seeing Jonathan kaminga get the start over Klay Thompson what was your reaction to

Seeing this I was very surprised to see him coming off the bench especially considering the timing of it with Allstar break coming up we’re about to get essentially a week off from basketball where you’re able to relax your mind get away from the game see family play with your dog do all the

Things that make you happy before you go into this 26 game Sprint so the timing was very interesting and I think what was pleasant was a pleasant surprise was how he responded to it yeah being a professional having not come off the bench since 2012 being a hall of Famer a

Guy with multiple Rings a guy who’s been a part of a dynasty to accept that and to not pout and whine about it although I’m sure he wasn’t happy he would not respond with 35 points I think this is a lesson for a lot of young players in the

League but I think it was also maybe a little bit of manipulation by The Warriors to kind of see where he was at and to see how he respond and maybe this is something that continues to go on in the future maybe it’s not but I was definitely surprised um that they

Decided to do that right before the allstar break there not one other player in the league that’s had to deal with Klay Thompson had to deal with over the last last three years the emotional roller coaster right the ride the injuries coming back trying to find his

Rhythm all of a sudden not really getting his rhythm not being the clay of old having to deal with being benched in the fourth quarter and then you look at it last night his first time coming off the bench since 2012 and when I think about clay I think

About Steph and I think about Draymond Green right this is when clay needs them the most this is when they have to elevate their leadership with cuz you know why you see this right here no matter how old you get right if you’re a veteran you always need a shoulder to

Lean on right and so I feel trying to saying I’m really old no W you’re my big brother so but what I’m saying is no matter if klay’s a vet and he’s a true professional right like this is the time for Steph and Clay to be I mean Stephan

Draymond to be in his in his life basketball life even more because they’re going to need him down the line CJ mentioned the idea of uh benching a player right before the All-Star break where he has a week to ruminate about this to think about this and I think if

He had not played well last night there’s no question that might be how he’s feeling but I was told the fact that he played so well that he felt like he got back on track that was the sense he was leaving uh for Allstar break with not necessarily the idea that they’re

Now bringing them off the bench and they’ll probably continue to he wants to play well he wants to get this team back on track and that starts with Klay Thompson they need him to play well uh he did last night and I think for him I

Think he’ll live with this role uh and an opportunity to see if this is a way to jump start his season right because we’ve seen Klay Thompson have sticky starts to his season especially struggling to shoot a little bit before and he always kind of gets himself out

Of it the questions just started to linger a little bit longer this year as we Contin continue to see those lows pile on perk if Hees doesn’t we he already wasn’t closing many games and we saw when he did the other night when he committed that costly foul against the

Clippers and we saw the frustration from Steve KR on that one so he wasn’t closing in several games for the Golden State Warriors now he’s not starting it’s not necessarily that this is going to be a forever move but if he’s not starting and not closing what are you

Thinking about that well I think I think it’s all about clay finding his rhythm and I thought this was a great strategic move by Steve cerr and his coaching staff and saying okay look we’re trying to get you going right now we’re going to run the offense through Steph Curry

And our second option is Jonathan kaminga so how can we get clay going let’s bring him in Off the Bench let’s run him in some you know screen and roll action let’s get his confidence going and like Steve ker said though he said in many interviews Klay will have his

Moments where he actually Clos games for us and I believe him on that I just feel like he right now they just need to stay focused on building his confidence right and potentially this is the first step in that before we move on W just I I I’m

Sure that as he doesn’t have a long-term commitment right now in place with golden state moving to the bench his role changing a little bit that certainly brings that back into question what more can you tell us my sense for Klay Thompson when he gets into free

Agency his focus on where he plays next whether that’s reupping in Golden State or going elsewhere is more than more perhaps than the money is what’s the best basketball fit where does he feel needed where does he feel there’s opportunity now money always plays into this but listen he had an extension on

The table earlier in the season in Golden State uh that I think he thought he could outperform this season there are teams who positionally you know want players like Klay Thompson veteran you know two-way shooting guards who are going to have cap space so he’ll have

Some options this summer but so much of this is going to I think come down to certainly those relationships in Golden State this group that has been together can they keep this together and can they keep us together at a significant discount perhaps for some of this group

But I think for Klay Thompson the better he plays now the more options he’s going to open up for himself in the off season and you have to imagine I mean this is kind of what we were talking about before the show Clay’s made a lot of

Money in his career it could down come down to what does he really want CJ yeah I think it’s going to come down to how he wants to be remembered does he want to be a lifelong Golden State Warrior and that’s a question that he’s have to ask himself obviously contract situation

His role the mental frustration and the battles that he’s gone through throughout the season the es and flows of performance are going to play a factor but there’s still a lot of basketball to be played 26 games left they can position themselves to either make the playoffs or make a run in the

Play and I think how the end of the season goals will dictate his mentality and his mindset and if they leave too sour with taste in his mouth you could see him leaving to opt out uh for maybe somewhere where he feels he can be better utilized better fit and a fresh

Start I’m not saying that he should do that I’m saying that he has to figure out what he wants most because he’s a Hall of Famer one of the greatest basketball players one of the greatest Shooters to ever touch a basketball and he could retire tomorrow and be happy

But I think that he has a lot of basketball that left that he wants to prove to himself right and to Others

Kendrick Perkins, Adrian Wojnarowski, CJ McCollum and @MalikaAndrews react to Klay Thompson’s 35-point performance after coming off the bench for the Golden State Warriors for the first time since 2012.

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