Warriors’ Klay Thompson takes offense to roster question – ‘You want to bench me?’

The Golden State Warriors, after a solid start to the 2023-24 season, have come crashing down to earth. Of course, the Warriors can attribute this drop-off to a few things, such as Stephen Curry’s knee-injury related absence, Draymond Green’s suspension, and Andrew Wiggins’ generally poor play. But one of the biggest culprits behind the Warriors’ early-season struggles has been Klay Thompson’s woeful shooting from the field, as it’s clear that he is no longer the Splash Brother of yore.

In fact, it’s getting to the point where bringing Thompson off the bench is no longer a preposterous idea for the Warriors. But during a recent press conference, things got a little bit testy when a reporter asked about head coach Steve Kerr’s patience when it comes to sticking with the same starters, giving Thompson the impression that the reporter was implying that he or Wiggins should head for a bench role.

“You want me to bench me?” Thompson asked after letting out a frustrated snicker, via NBC Sports Bay Area. “You want to bench Wiggs?”

Nevertheless, Klay Thompson gave a level-headed take shortly after, saying that the Warriors have a track record of figuring these sorts of struggles out.

“Sometimes you earn these things, like patience and time to find yourself. I think history is on our side when it comes to that stuff. I don’t care what people say. It’s like, they don’t do what we do. They can’t do what we do, that’s why they talk. I don’t care what people say, at this point in my life,” Thompson added.

Perhaps this is true; Klay Thompson has a history of starting out slowly, and he did proceed to right the ship, which should provide a bit of comfort for Warriors fans. Nevertheless, there are plenty of reasons to be concerned that this may be the new norm for Thompson; he is 33 years old and coming off a few major injuries, so he’s certainly at that point in his career where declines stick and regression to the mean doesn’t happen.

On the season, Thompson is averaging 15.0 points per game on a career-worst 40.2 percent field-goal shooting, so there’s room for him to improve, but it’s a fair question to ask just how much his numbers would normalize moving forwar