The Golden State Warriors have no doubt lost their star sharpshooter, Klay Thompson, marking a crack in the talked-about Golden dynasty. However, the wheel of time has turned, and Thompson is now with last year’s finalist, the Dallas Mavericks. Captain Klay has now accumulated with the bigwigs in the Eastern conference, like Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. He will now be donning the responsibility of clearing the floor for the offensive front of the team. Rather, the offensive burden will be less at the Mavs compared to his Dubs stint. However, he won’t be able to don his No. 11 jersey since Irving already has that one.

That’s why two days ago, the Mavs announced the jersey number for Thompson with a welcome post. Interestingly, Klay got the jersey number 31 for his new stint at the Dallas Mavericks. Before, the NBA community assumed that Thompson got that jersey number due to the players like Jason Terry. Apparently, Terry was the one who played his part well in the Mavs’ 2011 NBA title win. However, that was not the case since Klay’s father and sports commentator, Mychal Thompson, revealed via ‘Willard and Dibs’ podcast that Klay was “wearing 31 in honor of one of his basketball idols, Reggie Miller.” Surprisingly, Miller acknowledged this gesture of Klay as he later uploaded it on his IG story with the caption “Knew it.”

Notably, Reggie Miller is a basketball legend who was one of the best shooting guards in the league. His clutch shooting and trash talks were one of the most intriguing parts of his 18-year league career. Miller shot almost 2560 baskets beyond the arc and retired as one of the greatest legends in the NBA. Yet the shooting guard couldn’t earn a ring ever in his professional career with the Indiana Pacers. However, Klay Thompson is far past that[in the case of NBA titles] and once revealed why he admires Reggie so much.

When Klay Thompson revealed his game resemblance with Reggie Miller’s

Klay Thompson shares the same position as NBA legend Reggie Miller, as both of them played the role of shooting guard on the court. That’s why the 34-year-old connects with him, as he revealed on the NBA TV show during his interview with Steve Smith in 2023. “My style resembles that of Reggie Miller. I call myself the modern-day Reggie, “ Captain Klay mentioned how his game is quite similar to the former Indiana Pacers. Also, Klay addressed the ability of Miller to trouble players with his trash talk as he further added, “Reggie got so many scraps, and he got under so many people’s skin.”

He was referencing Miller’s troublesome trash talks that once even bothered Michael Jordan on February 10, 1993. Ultimately, a scuffle broke out between Jordan and Miller that day, resulting in the latter’s ejection plus a $6000 fine. On the other hand, Jordan received a $10,000 fine after the game. In his whole career, Miller received 12 ejections from the court. However, it seems that Klay is treading on that path quite carefully. He has only two ejections in his career so far. However, he has amassed the record of seven disqualifications in the league. Also, he is on his way to surpassing Reggie’s 3-pointer count soon, with his record at 2481 hoops from beyond the arc.

No wonder Klay’s play is quite similar to Reggie as both of their 3P% is quite close. Klay lies on the 41.3 mark, while Reggie’s stands at 39.5%. However, the times were different back then. So, they can be considered equal. What’s your thought about it? Any favorite incident of Klay Thompson’s career that reminds you all of Reggie? Let us know in the comments.

Before you go, do not forget to check out Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, to open up about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud. Keep checking this space for more such updates.