Klay, bandwagon fans, and positivity

[Notes/quotes/video from practice/boat]

Yesterday at Golden State Warriors practice, Klay Thompson heavily criticized bandwagon fans (see complete transcript below) when asked about how Nemanja Bjelica might be under-appreciated:

Man, nobody’s appreciated by the fans. Fans are so (scoffs) — fans, man. The real fans know what’s up. I’m talking about the fans prior to winning championships, who sat through many years of — many years of just not winning. But these new fans who come around and expect greatness and they weren’t anywhere to be found prior, we can forget those folks. They don’t deserve to rep the Warriors.

Then this morning Klay went live on Instagram from his boat and retracted that statement:

Bandwagon fans are a good thing. That means you’re gonna turn people over to your style of play. So, sorry if I offended anybody. It’s not my intention. We welcome all Warrior fans from around the globe.

I’d love to delve into it, but the truth of the matter is, I’ve got three videos on deck, more practice interviews coming today, and I delve into this on every single LetsGoWarriors game commentary livestream. And I don’t think I can truly get my hands around it all with words on a website. Btw here are the videos in question, with the full videos from practice listed third:

What Klay said initially at practice is flawed. What Thompson followed up with from his boat also doesn’t show every facet. It’s a complex issue and social media makes it even more so.

For me the bottom line comes down to appreciation, trust and loyalty. This leads to positivity and a more enlightened way of loving the process, appreciating certain guys from a different lens, enjoying the moment, or whatever Stephen Curry mantra you’d prefer.

That’s why I’ve named all of our live chats on our YouTube channel “LGW PASS”. It’s obviously a play on the term “NBA League Pass”, but P.A.S.S. stands for Positively Appreciating Surrounding Situations.

But anyways I’m glad Klay brought this up because it needed to be at some point. I’ll just leave it at that for now. We can discuss all the facets in gory detail on the second screen commentaries I do during each game… (Note: Steve Kerr transcript is below Klay’s)

KLAY

1:19, 3 • How did you become Poole’s vet? “We just by default spend so much time with our teammates that, as the years go by, that bond just naturally grows and being JP’s third year and seeing him work every day, it’s made me very impressed.”

• What are you looking at? “I was checking my text messages.”

• Poole 17 games in a row of 20+ points, how difficult is that? “It’s really hard. It takes great focus. (Ray jokingly repeats great focus as Klay continues checking text messages.) Yup. It’s true.”

0:58 • Looney: “Incredible story of triumph especially through a lot of trials Kevon had to face so early as a teenager. 🚨 Now for him to be where he’s at and three games away from leading the league in games played, incredible. A testament to his professionalism and his work ethic. I’m so proud of him and he’s helped us so much this year and, I mean, previous years as well. Kevon deserves all the praise.”

0:35 • Excited about not having to sit out any playoff games? “Yeah I’m just really excited to play playoff basketball. I haven’t played in a few years. The best time to be an NBA player is during those playoff moments and I can’t wait to experience them again.”

1:14, 2 • What’s the biggest way you’ve seen Draymond’s leadership style evolve over the years? “I think Draymond is just an incredible talker. And his ability to see the game is second to none. Just his will to win is so incredible. So Draymond is one of the greatest steals in NBA history and someone who will be immortalized through this franchise, 🚨 through his hard work and his heart he displays every night on the court. It’s awesome.”

• Has Draymond said anything to you that helped you? “Not off the top of my head but he’s said stuff to me nightly that helped me do what I do and. Every game he’s always giving advice. He’s like a second coach and second point guard out there. 🚨 Draymond’s awesome.”

1:02, 2 • What parts of your game are you satisfied with? “I’m honestly pleased with everything I’ve done. 🚨 Made shots , missed shots. Just the fact that I’m doing it is like awesome to me because what I’m doing is somewhat unprecedented so just to be out here playing, that’s all I really care about.”

• Overall are you where you expected you would be? “I have no expectations because I’ve never been through that before but I’m happy where I’m at and — I’m very happy.”

0:53 • Relying on history with Steph and Draymond, like riding a bike? “Yeah, I mean, that’ll be a lot of fun. Gosh. It’s been so long and we’ve done it so long together that I think, like you said, muscle memory 🚨 and just playing basketball. It’s a simple game. We know how to play off each other so it’ll just be like riding a bike. I love to ride bikes.”

0:32 • Does Looney get short changed in the narrative? “No. I don’t read that stuff so I wouldn’t know. But we know how much Loon means to us and when peers have respect for you that’s all that matters.” 🚨

1:20 • Do you think Beli is unique and maybe but appreciated by the average fan? “Man, nobody’s appreciated by the fans. Fans are so (scoffs) — fans, man. The real fans know what’s up. I’m talking about the fans prior to winning championships, who sat through many years of — many years of just not winning. But these new fans who come around and expect greatness and they weren’t anywhere to be found prior, we can forget those folks. They don’t deserve to rep the Warriors. 🚨 But Beli, like I said about Loon, amongst our peers, Beli is very well respected for what he’s done for his national team and hope long he’s played professionally and he’s just an incredible modern day player as far as being 6’10, shooting the three ball, skilled, able to pass and rebound. Without his 19-and-12 the last game, I’m not sure we would’ve won. So Beli is just a great pro. He’s been doing this for so long.”

• Fifty wins: “Oh, man. That’s awesome. You know, obviously we want more but I think that’s the eleventh time in franchise history, fifty wins. So, appreciate it and obviously don’t be satisfied and hopefully more to come.”

0:22 • Can Beli be an X factor? “I think everyone that comes off our bench is an X factor. That’s the beauty of the playoffs. 🚨There’s gonna be individuals stepping up every night. And it’s not on one person’s shoulders. It’s definitely a strength in numbers vibe.”

0:35 • What do you notice about Steph right now? “He’s just doing what he’s always done and working as hard as he can. Great thing about Steph is you don’t have to worry about him getting work in. He’s gonna so it. So we’ll welcome him with big arms when he gets back because we’re obviously not the same team without him.”

0:20, 2 • How are you feeling about your first playoffs since 2019? “I feel great.”

• Does anything changes for you mentally? “No. (Shakes head vigorously.) Mmm, mmm. (Pause of silence.) Is that it? Nice! (Walks off podium.)”

STEVE

0:59, 2 • How was practice today? “Practice was really good. We didn’t have a full scrimmage but we did some controlled stuff, kinda late hand execution. Went over some defensive concepts and team defensive drills. We had some shooting in…”

• To what degree is Steph involved? “He’s not involved with any of that. But he is on the court not getting some shots up so he’s been able to ramp things up a little bit. He’s doing well.”

0:53 • What are the big goals for the last three games? “First goal is to secure home court advantage so we need one more win for that…the intangibles are playing with energy and maintaining a defensive presence and force that maybe wasn’t there for a lot of the Utah game but was pretty good against Phoenix and Sacramento. Just trying to gain some defensive consistency…”

0:45 • Has the switch been flipped for Draymond? “I don’t think he’s all the way back but I think he turned a corner…he looks more energetic, more confident…the emotion, the passion is there…heading in a great direction. With three games left and another week of practice before our first playoff game, I think things are really looking up for Draymond.”

1:28, 3 • Is everybody ready to go? “Yes. I’m trying to think who was on the injury report. Andre and Otto will play. Tonight Moses and Cheese and Quinndary are all in LA for G League playoff game. They’ll be back…”

• Back to back coming up: “I haven’t talked to Rick about it but there’s a good chance we’re gonna continue to do the same thing we’ve been doing…”

• How nice is it to know there are no back to backs in the playoffs? “It’s huge…”

0:56 • Moody out of rotation: “I love Moses, his development all season long. Development is never linear. The fact that he hasn’t been in the rotation is not an indication that his development has in any way stopped…more an indication that we’ve gotten healthy…pushed down the ladder a little bit…

1:07 • Any correlation between how vocal Draymond is with how well he’s playing? “Yes…his passion is always there but when he first came back and his body wasn’t where he wanted it to be, it was inevitable. He just had to get some games under his belt. Those first games his passion turned into frustration. 🚨 …that passion (now) turns into energy and positive play…leadership…always gonna be competitive and emotional…”

2:15, 2 • How has the training staff done this year, given that media can’t talk directly to them? “I wish that would change because I don’t really feel comfortable talking about everybody’s medical situation. 🚨 I’ve mentioned this before but one of my favorite NBA quotes was when Doc Rivers was asked about a number of injuries and then he finally said, ‘You know, Doc is just a nickname.’ It’s true. We’re up in front of the mic to talk about medical stuff. So I wish you could talk to Rick but that’s not how it works…they’ve done a phenomenal job. We’ve got a really good line of communication between our coaching staff, our players and the training staff, so every single day everybody knows exactly what’s happening and there’s a collaboration going to make sure we’re putting the players in the best position to be healthy and succeed.”

• What about Rick going to Cabo to work with Draymond? “…so do the other members of the training staff. We frequently will send them on a road trip with a player. If a player is going to Santa Cruz…if it’s the summer time and a player needs some individualized attention, we’ll send that trainer to the player’s home…understanding that it’s not a 9-to-5 office job. You’ve gotta be fluid and flexible and selfless…”

1:48 • Draymond streak of technicals: “I was confident that he would get hot. The one thing with Draymond is he’s very aware of everything. So he knows exactly how many he can get before he would be suspended for a playoff game and you can almost bet that every seasons he’s gonna go right up to that line and not cross the line. The only thing we do is occasionally tell him how many he has. And then in a game like the other night in Sacramento…I was just telling him, we were losing our momentum…I’m always gonna back up Draymond. He needs to know that I have his back so I have to communicate that whether it’s through him or the officials, or maybe me getting a tech…certain times remind him, hey the team doesn’t need one right now…this would be a good time…to bring the guys together and he’s great about listening to that and we hash stuff out and it seems to work.” 🚨

1:05 • Any thought of resting Looney? “No. He wants to play 82, he’s gonna play 82…huge accomplishment. Loon has earned the right to finish the season off. It’d be one thing if he were a forty minute a night guy am and really banged up and it didn’t make sense for him to play. Then I would advise him to take a night off. I think we did that with Wiggins last year…playing 82 is a badge of honor 🚨 and considering where Loon has been in his career, missing the first two years of his career with hip surgeries and then the nerve issue…he deserves to feel that pride that comes with it.”

1:17 • Beli: “Rotations matter for Beli…who he’s on the floor with…when I decided to start small…pushed Loon to the bench and it pushed Beli a rung lower…sometimes it takes a couple games without a guy to remind everybody what you’re missing 🚨 …those two games were really lacked offensive flow off the bench…not just a pick and pop shooter, he’s a play maker…post up player, he can score or pass down in the block…I like him with that group particularly with Andre back now…” 🚨

1:18 • Lack of continuity, Steph Klay Dray going off their history in playoffs: “That’s what it’s going to take because we’re don’t have any other options. It is meaningful…those guys have been through all those battles deep into the playoffs…leaning on that…will not have any practice time together…(haven’t had those five) for a single game all year…”

0:58 • Integrating Poole: “That’s a great option for us to have. Definitely would’ve been nice to see that combinations little bit more…He’s making that a no brainer to put that group together 🚨…when is playoff time there’s nota whole lot of time to give stuff a look. It either works or it doesn’t. You gotta try something new if it doesn’t…really good chance it’s a lineup that works…”

1:57 • Worked on late game scenarios: “…making sure we’re understanding the details within the sets…get through the first option…moving the pieces around…experimenting a little bit. That’s the beauty of having a real practice…get some new ideas…” 🚨

• How much more crucial is that in the playoffs when plays devolve? “…it’s a big deal particularly for us because we’re not a team that just hands the ball to a guy like LeBron or Giannis…they’ve got a guy that’s big and strong enough to just create whatever. We don’t have that…we have to be able to execute a couple things…get the most out of our talent.”

👍👍💛💙