The Splash Brothers were back in action during the Golden State Warriors‘ thrilling win against the Los Angeles Lakers. As both teams entered the game shouldering their dismal season, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, like true Warriors, emerged above their personal issues. Klay came grappling the trials of coming off the bench. On the other hand, the Chef bounced back fresh off an injury.

Regardless, the two snipers combined for 57 points and 10 rebounds, shooting 55% from the floor; leading the Dubs to a 128-121 win. With that, Klay brought back his long-standing tradition of mounting paper planes, the F16s as he calls them.

As Klay Thompson finally finds his groove back, Draymond Green, the team’s on and off the court leader, commended the sharpshooter’s rise above the tribulations around his reduced role. When probed about Klay’s approach to his new role, Green stated, “He’s definitely leaning into it. He’s enjoying it.” The 2017 DPOY also explained how “early on, he [Klay] was too worried about how people were judging it.” 

However, thankfully for the Dubs, Thompson has undergone tremendous personal growth and moved past such trivialities. “Now he don’t care,” Draymond Green proudly said about his longtime teammate. Clearly, that mindset change has unlocked a new level for the shooting guard. Against the Lakers, Thompson posted 26 points within 30 minutes of gametime, going 9-15 from the floor and 5-10 from deep. Moreover, he provided the Warriors with a much-needed spark, dropping 8 quick points after coming off the bench in the 1st quarter.

While highlighting Klay’s contributions and optimistic approach, Dray also commended Klay’s maturity. As age catches up to the Dubs, their franchise stars are clearly still supporting each other. “There’s not many people that know how that feels. But there’s a bunch of people that wants to judge it,” Draymond further added.

Moreover, Green then reflected on the earlier stages of Klay’s new role where he was struggling to make an impact. Now, the 34-year-old has been showing a veteran-like approach and leading the rotational roster by example.

Klay Thompson is sniping from his bench role

Thompson, since his initial days in the league, has started over 700+ games for the Warriors. However, behind a struggling and inconsistent season, he was shifted to the second unit during the last week of February.

He then had to overcome the initial mindset troubles around his uncertain role, but Klay has now reclaimed his elite touch. In the 50 games before his shift to the bench, Klay scored 20 or more points in just 19 games. However, since coming off the bench, he has already touched the checkpoint 6 times in 13 games.

Moreover, with the weaker stretch of games behind him, Klay Thompson shows signs of maintaining a scoring momentum throughout the remainder of the season; hopefully propelling the Warriors to the playoffs.

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With the win in Crypto.com arena, the Warriors climb to the 9th spot on the Conference table. They will now face the streaking New York Knicks, as Jalen Brunson enters the contest with back-to-back 40 point games.