Klay: “I can handle the ball, but when I teamed up w/Steph & Dray, we all had to play to our strengths. I’m at my best when I’m running around & taking the defense w/me…ball may not be in my hands much & I’m not going to be MVP but when you win & put on for the city, that’s a priceless feeling.”

Klay and DeMar DeRozan showed up to Dorell Wright's Hometown Favorites camp this past weekend to be guests for a Q&A session and then serve as resources for them for the day, and this clip is from that Q&A session. Unfortunately, the editing of the session into the final video for YouTube (wasn't me) accidentally cut off the question that led to this answer from Klay. But contextually, you can make out that it likely had something to do with his role and/or finding his role in the league and something involving him as a ball handler.

The reason I wanted to upload it, other than the obvious being his incredible answer, was because of the incredible timing of him touching on this right after I saw Rico Hines' appearance on Pat Bev's pod talking about exactly this (during which he mentioned Looney, and I uploaded that portion of the pod to the sub earlier).

Also the ambient background noise on the recording is pretty rough with this one. I tried to work some technological magic and lessen it, but it ended up making it worse every time. So apologies on that, but per usual, below is a transcript to help offset any issues making out what's being said.

Klay: "I think I can handle the ball, I did in high school. But when I teamed up with Steph and Draymond, we all had to play to our strengths. If you want to get to the highest levels, you have to make sacrifices. Like, I'm not going to be at my best if I'm handling the ball more than Draymond. I'm at my best when I'm running around, back cutting and taking the defense with me to try to get someone an open shot. And I figured that out quickly with them…I'm gonna run off the ball, Steph's going to do his thing with high PnR, and Draymond's going to also facilitate. The ball may not be in my hands much, but we're going to win a ton of games and have a chance to win championships. Accolades will come, I'm not going to be first team whatever or MVP but at the same time, you win and you put on for the city and that's a priceless feeling.

For me, I figured out that to get the most out of myself, I accept that I'm not going to break you down one-on-one the most, but I'm going to get a teammate open and I'm going to use my teammates to get me open shots. And I figured out quickly that I can have a great career if I just worked and did the best I can in the system I was in. So, we all have to make sacrifices, there's usually only or two guys on a team that can do whatever they want. But, when you win you have that forever, whether it's at the high school level, college level, or pro, there's nothing that trumps winning. That's a lifelong bond.

So, when you're in the moment and you're like "man, I know I can do this and coach isn't letting me do this and that," just remember that I gotta sacrifice for the team and it's all worth it for that chance to win."

Something I think that gets lost in the discourse and rhetoric, and just overall narratives with players is that just because we don't see a player doing a certain skill or playing a certain role in games, doesn't mean they're incapable of those things or that they're not doing them because they can't and therefore have to be limited to specific roles. But rather – and this doesn't always apply, of course, so that caveat applies – the role they're bought into doesn't ask those things of them and so playing their role well necessarily means not showing/using those skills in game.

E.g. The narrative that Klay can't dribble that latched onto him for whatever reason, is so far from the truth it's comical; he became an elite catch and shoot 3&D player because that was what they needed him to be, not because he can't dribble or create for himself. Same goes for Andre when he was with us. He played within the confines of a role that, in the words of Rico Hines, left out some of what he had to offer in his toolbox, but he did so because they figured out that if he played with a more limited set of the tools he had at his disposal and focused on being elite at just those things, he'd be help them win and once he saw that was the case he bought in and left behind a fairly significant part of his offensive game.