As Much As You May Hate The Warriors, It's Hard To Not Feel Happy For Klay Thompson

Noah Graham. Getty Images.

When the Warriors were at their peak and all they were doing was destroying your favorite team and winning NBA titles, pretty much the entire world hated them. They were the fun upstart team that played this crazy style who quickly turned into a gigantic villain because people realized nobody could stop them.

Despite all that hate, it always felt like it was never directed at Klay Thompson. Who hates Klay Thompson? Is it even possible to hate Klay? I can understand not being thrilled with Draymond. I can get having hatred towards Steph as he shimmys right in your eyeball after draining another 35 footer. But with Klay, it's always been different. He seems like more of a chill dude who loves to just smoke and chill with his dog. Maybe spend some time out on his boat enjoying life. That sounds pretty great to me. This is partly why it was so brutal to see him get hurt not once, but twice. Two years of his prime were ripped from him and that really, really stunk. I don't give a shit about the Warriors and even I was bummed. How could you not be? 

Which is why his performance last night was so awesome

That was vintage Klay. Sure he's more well known as Game 6 Klay, but what we saw last night was that guy. I'm sure there were times during his rehab where he doubted if he would ever be able to get back to that level. Game 6 Klay is one of the most devastating forces the NBA has. To see him morph into that guy last night was pretty cool as long as you aren't a Mavs fan.

But then you hear him talk postgame and you get an even clearer sense of how important of a moment this is for him

I can't imagine what it would be like to work your way all the way back from an ACL injury, only to rupture your achilles. I'm pretty sure that would have been it for me. Seeing as how Klay isn't getting any younger, it wouldn't surprise me if he thought his career is over. You heard him, this time last year he was barely able to jog, now he just dropped 8 3PM and is off to the NBA Finals. I'm not in the movie business but I feel like this run for Klay is straight out of a movie. As someone who enjoys watching Klay play basketball, it's very cool to not only see him back to being himself but that he gets to have moments like this given everything he went through physically and mentally over these last 2 years.

Now granted, should my Celts take care of business tonight, everything I'm feeling about Klay immediately stops. His good story can end with an awesome WCF close out game. That'll be more than enough. 

He may not be quite the elite defender he was in his prime, and there may be games where he struggles from the floor, but just knowing that this version of Klay is still alive and well is very cool for anyone who simply enjoys watching the best in the world do shit that mere mortals can only dream of. I thought maybe that was lost forever with Klay, but that couldn't be further from the truth. That's pretty cool.