Klay Thompson Joins Game Time – Full Interview | February 26, 2023

MINNESOTA 104, KLAY THOMPSON LEADING THE WAY WITH 42 POINTS. KLAY NICE ENOUGH TO JOIN US NOW. I GOT TO GET THIS RIGHT. IN JANUARY YOU AVERAGED 27 A GAME, FEBRUARY JUST AS HOT. THAT IS CRAZY. TELL US WHO IS CALLING YOU WATCHED. >> JUST A LOT OF TWITTER HANDLES WHERE I SHOULD NOT BE SPENDING TIME, SO THAT WAS PROBABLY ENOUGH GOOD FOR ME TO SAY. AS ATHLETES WE LOOK FOR THINGS TO MOTIVATE US. IF IT IS JUST SOME FANS TALKING MESS, OR OTHER PLAYERS, YOU HAVE TO DO SOMETHING, ESPECIALLY IN YOUR 12, TO GET YOU

TO GO EVERY NIGHT. STEVE: I LOVE IT. WE GOT A CHANCE TO TALK OFF AIR. YOU HAVE NOT BEEN PLAYING WITH YOUR GUYS, DRAYMOND, STEPH, AND WIGGINS. I LIKED SEEING THIS KLAY TAKING HEALTH. WE KNOW HOW TALENTED YOU ARE, THAT’S NOT THE QUESTION FOR ME. WHAT IT DOES FOR ME IS GET A CHANCE FOR YOU TO GET IN THAT RHYTHM WHERE YOU GOT TO COME DOWN AND YOU GET A CHANCE TO SEE WHERE YOU ARE AS KLAY THOMPSON. >> THAT’S RIGHT. I AM HANDLING THE BALL MORE WITHOUT STEPH AND WIG AND DRAYMOND. I HAVE TO

LEAVE THE YOUNG GUYS. I AM TALKING MORE THAN I EVER HAD TO, CALLING SETS, BEING ENCOURAGING ON THE BENCH. IT’S NOT MY COMFORT ZONE BECAUSE I

HAVE NOT THE MOST VOCAL PERSON BUT I HAVE GROWN SO MUCH AS NOT ONLY A PLAYER BUT A LEADER. I AM HAVING A GREAT TIME WHILE THE GUYS ARE GETTING HEALTHY. SAM: TALK ABOUT THE FACT THAT YOU ARE IN YOUR 12 HAVING TO STEP OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE, BE MORE VOCAL, NOT ONLY WITH YOUR PLAY BUT IN THE LOCKER ROOM DIRECTING THESE YOUNG GUYS. HOW MUCH BETTER IS IT GOING

TO BE WHEN THESE GUYS GET HEALTHY WITH THE PLAYING TIME THESE GUYS HAVE TO HAVE? IS IT GOING TO MAKE YOU GUYS BETTER FOR THE PLAYOFF RUN, THAT WE KNOW YOU GUYS GOT LEFT IN THE TANK ONCE YOU GET HEALTHY? >> IT’S GOING TO PAY OFF HUGE POSTSEASON. YOU SAW WHAT DANTE DID LAST NIGHT, HITTING HUGE SHOTS, JP MAKING A COUPLE BIG FREE THROWS, KEVON WITH A DOUBLE DOUBLE, BEING A GREAT RIM PROTECTOR. EVERYBODY IS PLAYING MORE MINUTES THEN YOU USED TO, ESPECIALLY THE YOUNG GUYS DON’T GET THESE MINUTES. IT IS GOING TO PAY OFF

SO MUCH DOWN THE ROAD. WE HAD TO GO THROUGH A SIMILAR STRETCH LIKE THIS LAST YEAR WHEN STEPH AND DRAY WERE OUT FOR A LITTLE BIT. WE LOST LIKE SIX OF 10 AND PEOPLE WERE DOUBTING OUR CHAMPIONSHIP ASPIRATIONS, BUT I FEEL THE SAME KIND OF RESILIENCY FROM THE SQUAD THIS YEAR AND I THINK IT IS GOING TO PAY OFF SO GREAT COME POSTSEASON. STEVE: I HAVE A QUESTION THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH ON THE FLOOR. I HAVE ALWAYS SAID YOU WERE ONE OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE GUYS I HAVE SEEN IN THIS ERA. TELL ME

WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM? IT SEEMS LIKE IN YEAR 12 YOU ARE STILL RAMPING UP THAT COMPETITIVENESS. YOU SEEM LIKE YOU’RE GOING TO ANOTHER LEVEL. >> I APPRECIATE THAT. I THINK IT COMES FROM WATCHING Y’ALL PLAY GROWING UP, A 1990’S BABY AND WATCHING THE 1990’S AND 2000’S. THERE WERE SO MANY COMPETITORS — THE GREATEST TO PLAY THE GAME WERE THE BIGGEST COMPETITORS. BEING THE SHOOTING GUARD I AM, I IDOLIZED KOBE BRYANT. HE WAS NEVER ONE TO MAKE FRIENDS ON THE FLOOR. HE JUST WANTED TO WIN AT ALL COSTS. MY STYLE RESEMBLES THAT OF MEJIA MILLER

— REGGIE MILLER. I CALL MYSELF THE MODERN-DAY REGGIE. REGGIE GOT INTO SO MANY SCRAPS. HE GOT UNDER SO MANY PEOPLE’S SKIN. I LOVE THOSE TWO GUYS AT THE TWO GUARD SPOT. THEY LEFT IT ALL OUT THERE AND THAT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO WHEN I LOOK BACK ON MY CAREER, I GAVE IT EVERYTHING I HAD AND COMPETED AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL I COULD. NABI

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