Stephen A. Smith waxes lyrical about Klay Thompson as Warriors clinch Western Conference Finals

The Golden State Warriors booked their place in the NBA Finals after beating the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 and the star of the show was none other than Klay Thompson. Klay top-scored for the Warriors with 32 points and had a good game not only offensively but defensively as well. What makes this performance all the more impressive is that Thompson was out for the last two seasons with injuries and only managed to make a comeback this January. Stephen A. Smith was on ESPN’s First Take and waxed lyrical about Klay.

He said, “When Klay Thompson is balling the way he can ball or the way he is supposed to ball, the Warriors look like the Warriors. When it’s Steph without Klay, it’s just Steph. It’s Steph carrying the load but when Klay gets going, it seems to me that’s what we anticipate when we expect a collective effort from the Warriors. And I think about Klay averaging 18 points a game or 47 per cent shooting in this series. His three-point shooting percentage is still approximately at around 37 per cent for this particular series against Dallas. 

“But in the end what it comes down to is that he is incredibly pivotal to the success of this team because even though he is not what he used to be defensively because he has been out for the last two years before coming back in January, he is still formidable enough defensively and you are going to need that with this upcoming NBA Finals. You don’t just need Klay the shooter. You need Klay the complete player.”

Read more: “We are going to face Boston in the NBA Finals” – Draymond Green

It was like watching the Klay of old – Shaq

Even Shaquille O’Neal was singing Klay’s praises immediately after the Warriors clinched the Western Conference Finals and said that Klay was due a big game like this and also challenged Charles Barkley to change his prediction about who would win the NBA Finals. Speaking on Inside The NBA, Shaq said, “Very impressive. It is very much a dynasty. And listen, a player of Klay’s calibre wasn’t playing that great but he was due a game like this. It was fitting for him to have this game here at home to close it out. Kenny called it, I thought about it, Chuck called it. Listen, he looked like the Klay of old. If he plays like he played tonight and the way the others contribute, I am gonna have to go against Chuck when he says Boston is going to win the championship.