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On Thursday night, Klay Thompson did something he hadn’t done for 12 years. Rather than starting the game for the Golden State Warriors, he came off the bench, for the first time since his rookie season in 2012.
“You can do two things — you can pout, or you can go out there and respond. I thought I did the latter very well tonight.” — Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson on not starting against the Jazz
Wednesday, Thompson was benched in the final minutes of the Warriors game against the Los Angeles Clippers, and he admitted to not reacting appropriately to that situation.
“I didn’t respond to not playing at the end of the game well last night,” Thompson said. “Kind of took it out on the assistant coaches. I apologized to those guys.”
But Thompson had a completely different response to coming off the bench on Thursday. He responded with grace, humility and with the kind of reflection that every NBA player should use as a blueprint when thinking about their place in the hierarchy of a roster.