BROOKLYN — Klay Thompson didn’t let his smile fade. Can he find solace in seeing the younger, spryer wings close out a win against the Brooklyn Nets? Most definitely. Is he frustrated that he didn’t close the Warriors’ win? Of course, he said.
“Yeah, you kidding me? To go from one of the best players…” Thompson’s voice trailed off. “It’s hard for anybody, I’ll be honest with you. It’s very hard…Those guys played great, Gui (Santos), (Brandin Podziemski), Jonathan (Kuminga). End of the day, winning cures all.”
Thompson kept smiling.
Monday wasn’t the first time Thompson sat out to close a game this year. He was benched late for Podziemski in Memphis earlier this week, but that game was trending into a comfortable win. In November, he was benched for the first time in his career for crunch time in an eventual gutting loss to the Phoenix Suns; his frustrations boiled over then.
This night in Brooklyn, Santos, who started the year in the G League and hasn’t played many other meaningful minutes this year, was too impactful to sub. With Andrew Wiggins out injured, Santos gave the closing lineup athleticism and spark on the wing it desperately needs — he fought for loose balls, cut to the rim and wrangled or tipped rebounds — six, to be exact — in 17 minutes.
He had nine points and the Warriors outscored the Nets by 13 points when Santos was on the floor, a team-best.
Earlier this year, coach Steve Kerr might have hesitated to play a youngin’ over a veteran. This is a team that built its dynasty leaning on budding superstars and beating down teams with a tried-and-true formula the league couldn’t crack.
Now, sitting 22-25 and out of the play-in mid-way through the year, Kerr has had to wade into the unfamiliar. That’s made for some uncomfortable moments, especially for Thompson. Lately, his shots are coming up short and it appears the wear-and-tear of the season on his two surgically repaired legs is taking its toll.
He had eight points and shot 4-for-9 from the field and 0-for-3 from 3. He couldn’t close. But the Klay-to-close decision seems volatile given Thompson’s competitive desire to be on the floor when it matters most, as he always did before his injuries.
“He’s fine,” Kerr said. “This is a season where he’s had a lot of ups and downs and it’s not easy for a guy who has been so good and a Hall of Fame player to deal with the injuries, it’s never easy for any player getting older. But he’s mentally tough and plays through everything.
There’s a spotlight on him because of how great he is, because of the career he had. I don’t think that should be the story tonight, the story should be that we won a game on the road against a team that’s been playing well and we had multiple guys step up.”
Thompson agreed: He’s finding a balance between his past as one of the most clutch shooters in the NBA history. He accepted his new reality.
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But as Thompson answers questions, he’s interrupted by a teammate, Draymond Green, who was singing from his own locker loud enough to drown out some of the questions and, eventually, stuck his head in the media scrum in the locker room.
“What they asking you about, that you ain’t play to finish the game?” Green said. “Well, I got benched in Game 5 of The Finals (in 2022), who the (expletive) cares.”
Green was messing around, but again put the meaning of this season into perspective. The dynasty’s mortality grows closer and clearer each game, but moments like this show its core players aren’t afraid to acknowledge that its final years won’t look like those brilliant first ones. Green, Thompson and Steph Curry all know they’ll have to make little sacrifices like this to keep going.
