Klay Alexander Thompson (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for three seasons at Washington State University before being selected by the Warriors as the 11th overall pick of the 2011 NBA draft. He and teammate Stephen Curry are known as the “Splash Brothers” due to their outstanding outside shooting abilities.

High school career

Thompson was born in Los Angeles, California. He grew up in Ladera Ranch, California, and graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School of Rancho Santa Margarita in 2008.  In his junior season he was named to the All-Area second team and to the Orange County third team. As a senior Thompson averaged 21 points per game and led SMCHS to a 30–5 record and a Division III State Championship appearance. During the state championship, Thompson set a state finals record with seven 3-pointers in a game.  He was named Division III State player of the year, League MVP, first-team Best in the West, and an EA Sports Second Team All American.

College career

Freshman season

As a freshman, Thompson started all 33 games at Washington State University. He was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team and Collegehoops.net All-Freshman Honorable Mention Team after leading his team in 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, and averaging 12.5 points per game.

Sophomore season

Thompson began his sophomore season by leading the Cougars to the Great Alaska Shootout Championship, of which he was named Most Outstanding Player after scoring a tournament single game record of 43 points in the championship game.  This was also the third highest single game point total in WSU history.  After becoming the third fastest Cougar to reach 1,000 points, Thompson was named to the All Pac-10 First Team.  He earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors twice during the season and was chosen as a midseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Award.Thompson finished the season averaging 19.6 points, which was second in the conference.

Junior season

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As a junior, Thompson again earned All-Pac-10 first team honors after leading the Pac-10 in scoring.  He became just the third Cougar to win first-team all-district honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches twice in his career.  In addition, he became the first Cougar to win Pac-10 Player of the Week three times when he won the award for the week of Nov. 22-28.  He also won the award for the week of December 6–12. Soon after, Thompson was named one of the 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award.  In the 2011 Pac-10 tournament, he set tournament records with 43 points and 8 three pointers.  Thompson finished the season by setting WSU’s single season scoring record with 733 points.  He is WSU’s 3rd all-time leading scorer.

College statistics

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2008–09 Washington State 33 33 33.1 .421 .412 .903 4.2 1.9 0.9 0.6 12.5
2009–10 Washington State 31 30 35.4 .412 .364 .801 5.1 2.3 1.4 0.7 19.6
2010–11 Washington State 34 33 34.7 .436 .398 .838 5.2 3.7 1.6 0.9 21.6
Career   98 96 34.4 .424 .390 .827 4.8 2.6 1.3 0.7 17.9

NBA career

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Thompson and Harrison Barnes in March 2013

Thompson declared for, and opted to remain in, the 2011 NBA Draft after his junior season. He was selected 11th overall by the Golden State Warriors.  This pick of a guard prompted speculation that the Warriors would trade starting guard Monta Ellis.  Warriors general manager Larry Riley praised Thompson for his shooting ability and expressed confidence that Thompson would improve his defensive skills with new coach Mark Jackson.

The NBA did not select Thompson for the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Rising Stars Challenge. However, in the four games after that decision, Thompson improved in all areas of basketball over his current season averages: points per game (12.5 over 7.6), shooting percentage (54.3% overall including 55.6% for three-pointers, up from 46.7 and 48.1), rebounds (2.8 from 1.6), assists (1.5 from 1.3), steals, and turnovers.  The Warriors traded Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks on March 13, 2012.  The following game, Thompson scored a season-high 26 points in a loss to the Boston Celtics.  A week later, he exceeded his previous high with 27 points in a win over the New Orleans Hornets.[20] As of mid-February 2012, Thompson played around 17 minutes per game,  but he played an average 30 minutes per game during the next month.  At the end of the season, Thompson was voted to the NBA All-Rookie First Team.

2012–13 season

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In his second NBA season on January 29, 2013, Thompson scored a regular season career high of 32 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Warriors coach Mark Jackson said that Thompson and Stephen Curry formed the best shooting duo in NBA history.  That season, the two combined made 483 three-pointers, the most ever by an NBA duo.  On May 8, 2013, Thompson recorded a career high of 34 points in the second round of the NBA playoffs against San Antonio, hitting 8 out of 9 three point attempts, along with a career high 14 rebounds.

2013–14 season

In his third season, during the opening game for the Warriors, Thompson scored a career-high 38 points, including 5 out of 7 three-pointers.  He and Curry set an NBA record for 484 combined threes on the season, besting by one the record they set the previous year.

2014–15 season

On October 31, 2014, Thompson signed a four-year contract extension with the Warriors.  The next day, he scored a career high 41 points in the Warriors’ 127-104 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.

International career

Thompson was a member of the gold medalists’ United States FIBA Basketball World Cup team that competed in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS Games started  MPG Minutes per game
 FG% Field goal percentage  3P% 3-point field goal percentage  FT% Free throw percentage
 RPG Rebounds per game  APG Assists per game  SPG Steals per game
 BPG Blocks per game  PPG Points per game  Bold Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 Golden State 66 29 24.4 .443 .414 .868 2.4 2.0 .7 .3 12.5
2012–13 Golden State 82 82 35.8 .422 .401 .841 3.7 2.2 1.0 .5 16.6
2013–14 Golden State 81 81 35.4 .444 .417 .795 3.1 2.2 .9 .5 18.4
Career   229 192 32.4 .435 .410 .827 3.1 2.2 .9 .4 16.0

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013 Golden State 12 12 41.3 .437 .424 .833 4.6 1.8 1.0 .6 15.2
2014 Golden State 7 7 36.7 .408 .364 .792 3.4 3.6 1.0 .7 16.4
Career   19 19 39.6 .426 .398 .800 4.2 2.5 1.0 .6 15.6

Personal

Thompson is the son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson, an immigrant from the Bahamas. His older brother, Mychel, played basketball for Pepperdine University and has played in the NBA, while his younger brother, Trayce, was drafted in the 2009 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. Klay faced controversy when he was suspended for his final regular season game at WSU after being issued a misdemeanor criminal citation for marijuana possession.

THEY’VE GOT THE NUCLEUS OF A GREAT TEAM, BUT THE HEAD COACH MAY NOT BE THE ONE WHO CAN GET IT DONE. THE GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS MISSED ON THIS HEAD COACH HIRE, HE DOESN’T HAVE IT, THAT SHOWED WHEN HE (STEVE KERR),  WAS THE GENERAL MANAGER WITH THE PHOENIX SUNS, AS IT APPLIES TO HIS DECISION MAKING SKILLS. BUT, WITH ALVIN GENTRY AS HIS ASSISTANT HEAD COACH, AND IF HE LISTENS TO HIS ASST. HEAD COACH,  WHO HAS BEEN A SUCCESSFUL HEAD COACH IN THIS LEAGUE, THE WARRIORS WILL BE A VERY GOOD TEAM.

 

THE MYBOYSAY NBA ENTHUSIASTS WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE KLAY THOMPSON ON HIS NEWLY SIGNED FOUR YEAR CONTRACT EXTENTION WORTH $70,000,000.00.00 DOLLARS.

 

 

 

 

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