Warriors fan here to set the record straight about Klay’s defense (spoiler: media narratives about it the last 2 yrs have been so warped that they’ve become completely detached from reality). Funniest part about the narratives is the 3, where he’ll play for y’all, is where he’s best now defensively.

I pulled a bunch of Klay’s defensive possessions from this season – these are mostly from February and March, so definitely just a selection and not remotely the sum total of his defense this season, but figured I'd pull from the most recent games – to show just what I mean about how detached from reality the narrative that he's a "defensive liability,” tantamount to a cone on defense, and/or needs to be hidden on defense is.

The media harping on his fit defensively with the Mavs has me so annoyed because of how laughably off base it is that I feel like I have a duty, as a longtime Warriors fan who has watched literally every game, every season, to make sure you all know that not only is he not a defensive liability, but ironically enough, where you guys will be playing him (ie at the 3) is where he's best suited and most effective defensively at this stage lol. He can't – and so doesn't – guard fast, twitchy guards at the POA any longer, but he's still very much a high level defender against slower guards and wings and can scale up to effectively guard some of the biggest and best (Jokic, AD, & Brook Lopez to name a few) centers with single coverage if/when he ever finds himself switched onto them, because of how strong he is.

A big part of what made Klay so elite defensively at his peak was his incredibly sound fundamentals – try to get him dance all you want, he's not gonna bite; elite footwork and use of angles to force the shot he wants the offensive player to take, not the one they want to take; defensive positioning – he's always sitting down, you'll never catch him straight up and susceptible to getting caught on his heels, etc. His ACL and Achilles tears took a step or two away from him laterally*, but they didn't take away any of the aforementioned defensive fundamentals and at the end of the day, those fundamentals are what make great defenders.

The best, most pure example of this – meaning the ability to be very very good defensively post-injuries that took a hit to a player's athleticism – to drive it home, is Kevon Looney. He's probably the most athletically limited big you will find in the league and yet, is one of the best switchable bigs and one of the only bigs in the league during the Warriors' long run to never get played off the court in the playoffs because of it, locking up prime Harden and Chris Paul & had Brunson in fits during our 2022 WCF series vs you guys. Really great breakdown with game film about his switching defense in the playoffs here for proof lol because unless you watched him during those runs and already know, the suggestion that he ever locked up prime Harden or Chris Paul in single coverage out in space would sound ludicrous.

What makes Loon able to be an incredibly effective switching big and defend out on the perimeter and in space like this despite his two hip surgeries that effectively sapped all of his athleticism, is because he's one of the most defensively sound, fundamentally speaking, guys you'll find in the league. It's that same adherence to bulletproof fundamentals that allows, despite media narratives to the contrary, Klay to still be an incredibly effective defender post-injuries.

*To be clear, he's not incapable of moving laterally and still can move his feet to keep the vast majority of guys in front of him, he's just a half step slower, which is why he can't keep up with twitchy guards anymore, but slower guards and wings he's got down just fine.