Steph Curry has spoken honestly about what he thought when he saw his fellow splash brother Klay Thompson come off the bench for the first time since his rookie season in 2012.
In the Warriors’ 140-137 win against the Jazz in Utah last week, the bombshell was dropped before tipoff that rookie Brandin Podziemski was going to start over Klay.
“It was weird,” Curry told ESPN’s Malika Andrews. “I’ve come off the bench a couple of times and seen him start, so it was weird to switch roles.”
Despite Curry feeling some kind of way about it, coming off the bench suited Thompson very nicely.
The four-time NBA champion scored a season high of 35 points on 59.1 percent shooting from the field, to go with six rebounds.
Curry was proud to see Thompson respond so positively to the demotion, amid a tough a year for Klay and the Warriors franchise as a whole.
“For him, there’s only one way for him to respond: the way that he did,” Curry said. “I think there’s been a lot of narratives around his season and since he’s come back from his injuries – a lot unfair.
“I think the natural evolution of all of our careers is trying to figure out how to continue to win, but it might look a little different. The way that he responded is the Klay Thompson that I know — the true competitor, the true dawg. He got pissed off and said, ‘Watch this.’ I think a lot of it is just knowing who he is.”
Golden State head coach Steve Kerr didn’t commit to Thompson’s benching as a permanent change after the win.
But no matter where Klay starts, Curry knows how much his presence will always mean to the team.
“However it looks moving forward, for us, it has just always been about our team’s success — the root of everything,” Curry said. “And he’s as important to that as anybody.”
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