Golden State Warriors starting shooting guard and recent All-Star, Klay Thompson has always been a marksman when shooting from behind the arc. Since entering the league in 2011, Thompson has been widely considered one of the associations best long-range shooters. While attending Washington State University, he shot nearly 40% from deep, and as a pro shoots a respectable 42% from behind the line.
This year, Thompson is having the best season of his career. Fresh off his first ever All-Star game appearance, Thompson finished tied for ninth in the league in scoring at 21.7 points per game, a career high, while also notching the league’s fifth best 3-point percentage at 43.9%, also a career best.
What makes Thompson such a great shooter?
Of course, thousands and thousands of hours in the gym has helped, but perhaps the biggest reason he is such a dead-eye shooter is his shooting form.
In an article written by Dylan Murphy for Bleacher Report, “the gather”, balance, and minimal follow-through were cited as the keys to Thompson’s success as a shooter.
“Klay is just boom, boom,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr to reporters during the preseason in October. “No wasted motion. No wasted effort. Just catch and let it go with perfect form.”
Thompson shocked the world when he scored 37 points in one quarter, going 13-for-13 including 9-for-9 from deep against the Sacramento Kings in January.
Then on April 13, 2015, Thompson netted 37 in a half, scoring 26 in the second quarter.
After the Kings game, Thompson talked to Greg Papa and Gary St. Jean about the game and how shooting form came in to play.
“I practice those shots believe it or not and as a shooter, as long as your shoulders are square, that’s all that matters,” Thompson told Papa and St. Jean.
Klay’s dad and Los Angeles Lakers legend, Mychal Thompson, worked with Klay from a very young age, and likely planted the seed that would grow to become the great shooter he is today. But at what age did the Thompson family realize that Klay had such a gift?
“He tells me in 8th grade I was able to shoot NBA threes at a young age and he just realized I had a gift that can’t really be taught,” Thompson said after his NBA record performance, “He taught me the fundamentals of my game, he taught me my form and something I just fell in love with and I’ve been working on since.
“It’s just funny to me when I look at the old tape watch it, his play and his style is so different from mine so it’s cool,” Klay said while comparing himself to his dad.
The 37-point quarter was great accomplishment, but now Thompson has given literal meaning to the term “lights out shooter.”
While Thompson’s numbers have been impressive, they do not show how truly in sync he is with the basket while on the court. Thompson recently visited the ESPN studios to film a segment for “Sport Science.” In order to see if Thompson could truly shoot the lights out, they did exactly that; turned the lights out.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-JfKGly2xc]In the video, you can see that Thompson doesn’t even need to be able to see the hoop to do what he does best. He incredibly hit eight of his ten 3-point shots with the room completely pitch black. First Thompson took a handful of shots with the lights on, and as you would expect, nailed most of them. Then, the lights went off.
Before the ball even made it into the hands of the sharpshooter, the room went dark. This did not seem to phase Thompson as 80% of those shots went in.
“I thought I was going to do a lot worse,” Thompson said in the video, “This shows you how much muscle memory it is. I shot just as well with the lights off as with the lights on.”
Thompson also confirmed with LetsGoWarriors that he did not practice shooting in the dark prior to that segment.
Thompson has come a long way since entering the league. Throughout his time in the NBA, he continues to mention the fact that he would never be where he is without the help and support of others, particularly his dad.
“Give credit to my father my teammates especially my dad,” Thompson told ESPN’s Ethan Strauss, “He told me at a young age he saw my gifts at an early age he said, ‘Klay your jump shot can take you a long ways someday’.”
[NOTE: Poor Man’s Commish contributed to this report.]Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
