Charles Barkley Claims Klay Thompson Will Never Be Best "2-Guard" Again
Coming back from a significant leg injury like an ACL tear or an Achilles tear is tough to do in any sport.
Coming back from both of these injuries in back-to-back years after not playing for 941 days is almost improbable given the physical and especially the mental strain put on one's body.
Well, Klay Thompson has done this and while he is definitely not the same player he once was prior to these injuries, he is still re-teaching his body and Klay still finds himself as a key contributor for the Golden State Warriors.
Without him last season, the Warriors may not have won the 2022 NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics and Thompson has taken a lot of pride in his ability to overcome adversity. Thompson has recognized that he is not the same player he once was and NBA Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley has talked about Klay Thompson quite a bit this season, referring to how he believes Klay will never be the same high-impact player he once was.
When talking with Taylor Rooks of Bleacher Report, Barkley explained his reasoning behind why he believes Klay Thompson will never be the same.
“Klay is still a heck of a player, but he’s never going to be that best “2-guard” in the NBA that he was for a long time because of age, Achilles and ACL,” Barkley said. “I was disappointed that he overreacted cause he 100 percent overreacted because I said he’s still a good player, but his days of being the best ‘2-guard’ in the NBA were over.”
Barkley went on to talk about how Klay Thompson struggled on October 25 against the Phoenix Suns, stating that Devin Booker was simply beating Thompson on every single play and that there was nothing Thompson could do about it, which resulted in his frustrations and eventual ejection.
Klay Thompson is right next to Stephen Curry in terms of being one of the greatest three-point shooters of all-time, but like Charles Barkley mentioned, he has been through a lot.
As stated earlier, it is hard enough to come back from one major injury, yet alone two, which is why expectations that have been put on Klay are unfair.
He is still going to be a first-ballot Hall-of-Famer when he retires and Klay will forever be at least a four-time champion.
His accomplishments with the Warriors are forever a part of NBA lore and while he may never be the best shooting guard in the league again, that does not mean that Klay Thompson cannot still be effective.
In 18 games this season, Thompson has averaged 17.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 40.1 percent from the floor and 39.2 percent from three-point range.
As of right now, this is Klay’s lowest points per game average since his second season in the NBA, but he is still effective and Thompson still has a ton of confidence in himself, which is all that matters at the end of the day.
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