Things haven’t exactly gone to plan for Klay Thompson so far this season, but he is still achieving milestones in the NBA history books and is helped by Steve Kerr’s encouraging words.
Despite having one of the worst shooting seasons of his career, Klay made NBA history against the Magic on Tuesday by moving ahead of Richie Guerin (14,676) for 157th on the all-time scoring list.
The five-time All-Star scored 15 points for his team in a much-needed win and revealed that he had a deep chat with head coach Kerr during their first practice of 2024 that helped put things in perspective.
“That helped me relax a lot,” Thompson told reporters on his chat with Kerr. “Sometimes I forget just how successful and how lucky I’ve been to be part of a championship team, All-Star games, gold medals. You want to get back to that level so badly you can kind of get in your own way. Rather than forcing it, we had a conversation about enjoying the last chapter of my career, how lucky I truly am to still be playing this game, doing it at a high level, being a better mentor for these young guys, leading by example, having my energy right every game.
“He helped me realize if I do have negative energy how that affects the team in a poor manner. So we had a great conversation that helped me change my whole mindset and forget about shooting splits or points per game or All-Star games and just to enjoy being in this Warriors uniform and appreciate what we’ve built. Because it’s such a rare opportunity for a professional athlete to be a part of so much success and to pass that torch to the young guys and keep this thing going.”
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