The Golden State Warriors are in a tough spot as they will start their playoff journey from the play-in. They have a tough rival in the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tournament’s first round before fighting the loser of the Lakers-Pelicans game to face the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round of the playoffs.
Fans who watched the Warriors play this season will tell you that Stephen Curry’s performances during the early stages of the playoffs will determine whether the Dubs would have an actual shot at making another postseason run.
However, Shaquille O’Neal argues that another player on the Golden State roster would determine whether the team successfully challenges for another Larry O’Brien trophy.
Shaq highlights Klay Thompson as the key player for the Golden State Warriors in the 2024 Playoffs
Shaquille O’Neal discussed the Golden State Warriors’ playoff chances in the latest episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq where he discussed the tough road the Dubs have this time.
While many believe that Stephen Curry would have to do plenty of the heavy lifting on his own, Shaq highlighted the importance of Klay Thompson’s performance in turning the Warriors’ postseason hopes around.
Per Ubong Archibong of FirstSportz:
“But it’s not him (Curry), Klay Thompson. For a guy like that, all it needs is two games…Right now, everybody’s killing him, ‘Oh, you’re coming off the bench, you lost it, you lost it’. He’s still playing. All it takes is one of those games where his elbow is tucked in, and he’s feeling it, and everybody’s counting them out,” Shaquille O’Neal said.
Klay Thompson didn’t look like the lethal Splash Brother that terrified opposing NBA backcourts for years. In the 77 games he played this season, he averaged 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists on 43%/39%/93% shooting splits.
While these are respectable numbers, they’re far from numbers that can pose a serious threat to any NBA team with a proper defensive game plan. Klay needs to revert to his form during the 2018 and 2019 playoffs where he was especially lethal from long-range.
Shaq also understands how big momentum is in turning a game. He knows he has the mental resilience to play despite his poor run of form.
Klay Thompson is a winner who has experienced plenty of challenges in his career, including injuries that kept him off the floor for two seasons. A shooter with great mental resilience like him only needs a couple of games to get hot and start raining down threes on opponents.
The play-in tournament will be a battle for Klay and the Golden State Warriors, but they should be able to threaten any team in the West. They will need Klay to wake up again, but they know better than anyone how high his expectations are for himself. He should be back on his feet and shooting threes sooner than later.
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