OAKLAND–Steph Curry and Kevin Durant are each averaging more than 25 points per game.
Draymond Green is averaging over eight points, eight rebounds and eight assists per game.
But the Warriors’ most consistent player thus far? Head coach Steve Kerr thinks the title belongs to shooting guard Klay Thompson.
“In many ways, he’s (Thompson) been our most consistent performer all season,” Kerr said Friday. “We have obviously great players up and down but in terms of who’s doing everything every single night, that’s Klay.”
Before the Warriors’ Friday evening showdown with the Washington Wizards, Kerr highlighted the various ways Thompson has improved this season and also pointed out some of the strides he’s made over the course of his career.
The seventh-year guard is averaging 21.2 points per game, but it’s not Thompson’s scoring that’s drawing high marks from his head coach. Instead, it’s Thompson’s ability to impact the game on both sides of the floor, particularly when the Warriors use their small-ball lineup at the end of games.
“He’s frequently the one who switches onto the big because he guards so many ball-handlers,” Kerr said. “So he switches on to the big, he’s fighting those guys in the block, shot goes up in the block, now he’s fighting those guys to go get rebounds, he’s boxing out. Klay has been fantastic.”
Kerr said that when he arrived at Golden State prior to the start of the 2014 season, he already knew Thompson was an impressive shooter. But through the years, Thompson has developed his game and been able to contribute in a variety of ways that have made him a more complete player.
After Wednesday’s victory over Toronto, Thompson said he’s attempted to become a more complete player and more specifically, a more complete rebounder this season. The Washington State product added eight boards on Wednesday, and also blocked a shot in the waning moments of the Warriors’ win that prevented the Raptors from pulling within one point. That block helped guarantee a victory, and it’s the type of play the Warriors are more accustomed to receiving from Thompson.
“In my three years, the improvement I’ve seen from him is so dramatic,” Kerr said. “He’s always been a great shooter, but he’s a better finisher, better defender. He used to have trouble remembering plays out of timeouts, he would just kind of have a brain fog, never does that anymore, he’s locked in.”