Klay Thompson
Early Life
Klay Thompson was born February 8, 1990 in Los Angeles, California. His father Mychal was the 1st overall pick in the 1978 NBA Draft (Portland Trailblazers.) His oldest brother Mychel played basketball at Pepperdine University and is currently in the D-League for the Sioux Falls Skyforce. Klay’s younger brother, Trayce was selected in the 2nd round of the 2009 MLB draft by the Chicago White Sox and is currently an outfield in their developmental system.
Thompson graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School (SMCHS) in 2008. During Klay’s junior season at SMCHS he was named to the All-Area second team and the Orange County third team. During his senior season, Thompson led his school to a 30-5 record and a Division III State Championship appearance while averaging 21 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. In the state championship he set a state finals record with seven 3-pointers in a game and finished with 37 points. For his performance that year he was named Division III State Player of the Year, League MVP, and an EA Sports Second Team All-American.
During his senior season Thompson was ranked 6th and 9th at his position by Rivals.com and Scout.com respectively while being ranked 7th in the state and 51st overall by Rivals. He received offers from Washington State, Michigan, Nevada, Pepperdine, and Notre Dame before ultimately accepting a scholarship at Washington State University.
College Career
Thompson started all 33 games for the Cougars his freshman year and was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team while leading his team in both 3-point % and FT%. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.9 assists while shooting 90% on FT’s and 41.2% from 3.
Thompson started his sophomore season with a bang leading Washington State to the Great Alaska Shooutout Championship, a tournament held in Anchorage, Alaska with participating schools from all over the country. In the finals Thompson scored 43 points (a tournament single game record) in a 93-56 rout over San Diego. The 43 points was also the third highest single game point total in Washington State history. During the season he became the third fastest player in Washington State history to reach 1,000 points and was named to the All Pac-10 First Team. He also earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors twice during the season and was a midseason candidate for the John R. Wooden award which is given to the player of the year. Thompson finished the year with averages of 19.6 (second in the conference), 5.1 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.
Thompson lead the Pac-10 in scoring his junior year while also earning First Team Alll Pac-10 honors. During the Pac-10 tournament he set single game records with 43 points and 8 3-pointers in an 89-87 loss to Washington. By seasons end Thompson set the single season scoring record at Washington State with 733 points and became the 3rd leading scorer in the school’s history.
Thompson also ran into off the court trouble during the season. After a late season win against USC in which Thompson scored 22 points he was pulled over for a non-functioning headlight. During the stop the officer smelled an odor and discovered 1.9 grams of marijuana in the vehicle. Thompson claimed the drugs were not his, but he was cited with possession of marijuana and suspended for the team’s regular season finale against UCLA.
Professional Career
Aside from the small bump in the road stemming from the marijuana charge, Thompson had a pretty successful career at Washington State and declared himself eligible for the 2011 NBA draft. Leading up to the draft it seemed the Warriors were up in the air between Thompson, a 6’7 SG known for his knock down shooting ability and Alec Burks, a 6’6 SG known for his slashing and ability to finish at the rim. The Warriors eventually elected to go with Thompson providing the team with a taller player at the SG position as the new owners looked to move on from Monta Ellis and build around Stephen Curry while implementing a defensive philosophy under new Head Coach Mark Jackson.
Through the first 39 games of his rookie season Thompson scored over 15 points just four times with his high at that point being 19. Then on March 13th the Warriors traded Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks and along the way officially making Thompson their starting SG. The first game after the trade Thompson scored a then career high 26 points against the Boston Celtics. He then went on to score 15 or more points in 21 of the final 27 games he played that season and 20 or more in 10 of those games. His season high came on March 24th in a 111-108 win over the Sacramento Kings in which Thompson scored 31. He finished the season starting 29 of the lockout shortened 66 games while averaging 12.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.1 assists. Thompson was also named to the All-Rookie First Team.
The 2012-2013 season was set to be Thompson’s first season as a full time starter, but the Summer prior to that several teams around the league expressed interest in the 6’7 shooter. Thompson’s name was linked that Summer to two potential deals for other top SG’s around the league. One was Eric Gordon who had recently signed a max extension with the New Orleans Hornets, but was unhappy with their direction. The other was James Harden who was ultimately traded to the Houston Rockets as the Oklahoma City Thunder looked to shed salary. Moving on the any what-if’s, the Warriors front office certainly showed how much they valued Thompson.
Thompson took another step in his development during his second season as his minutes increased from 24.4 per game to 35.5. He scored 20 or points 30 times that season including a career-high 32 on January 29th in a 108-95 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. During the game Thompson made 6 of 8 3-pointers. He finished the regular season 3rd in 3-pointers made with 211, 100 more than he made in his rookie season. Thompson played and started in all 82 games that season while averaging 16.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.2 assists.
Thompson along with several other members of the Warriors saw their first Playoff experience that season and Thompson didn’t shy from the spotlight. In the first two games of the Playoffs Thompson scored 22 and 21 points respectively while shooting 18-30 combined. The second game was a stellar performance as Thompson’s 22 points came off of 8-11 from the field and 5-6 from 3. So good was Thompson that after Game 2 of the opening round against the Denver Nuggets that Mark Jackson made the claim, albeit a bold one, that Thompson and Curry were the best shooting backcourt in NBA history.
Thompson’s best was yet to come in the Playoffs. After advancing past the Nuggets the Warriors were set to face the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semifinals. After losing 129-127 in a gut-wrenching double overtime Game 1, Thompson was set to make his mark. In a must-win Game 2 Thompson went nuclear shooting 13-26 from the field and a ridiculous 8-9 from 3, he scored a then career-high 34 points in a 100-91 victory. Thompson failed to duplicate that performance as he scored only 41 points over the next 4 games as the Warriors ultimately lost in 6 to the Spurs.
The positive signs showed bright for the second year player as he was one of 27 players invited to participate in the Team USA minicamp during the summer of 2013.
Thomspon was recognized from outlets around the league for his improvements and was widely considered one of the top SG’s in the league. He was ranked 58th overall and the 8th best SG in CBSSports ranking of the top-100 players. 89th overall in Sports Illustrated rankings and 60th overall (the 6th best SG on the list) in ESPN’s annual #NBARank moving up 75 spots from his 135 ranking the previous season.
As one could tell, high expectations were placed on Thompson entering his 3rd season. Blowing away those expectations in the 2013-2014 season opener against the Los Angeles Lakers, Thompson once again set a new career-high of 38 shooting15-19 from the field and 5-7 from 3 in only 31 minutes of action as he didn’t even step on the court in the 4th Q of a 125-94 blowout. Thompson seemed to have a new confidence on display in the first game of the season as he was driving with the ball and not shying away from attacking the rim. He could be in for a big year if that confidence doesn’t fret this season.
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