Just three seasons ago, Golden State Warriors fans didn’t have much of a clue about where the franchise was going.
Fan-favorite Monta Ellis had been traded for an injured Andrew Bogut, cueing the infamous boos at Chris Mullin’s jersey retirement ceremony at Oracle. Stephen Curry missed a majority of the lockout-shortened season due to ankle surgery. The team’s future appeared to rest on the shoulders of an injury plagued point guard.
Things turned around in the 2012-2013 season when the team started winning. Newly acquired rookies Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green and Festus Ezeli made solid contributions. The Warriors had their first All-Star since 1997 in David Lee. Curry came into his own before displaying an all-time great performance with 54 points at Madison Square Garden. The Warriors finally made the playoffs after a six-year period of mediocrity.
The Warriors were supposed to make huge leap during the 2013-2014 season. Curry made his first All-Star appearance in New Orleans. Fifty-one wins was a great accomplishment for the team, but a first-round exit against a scorned rival left the bitter taste of disappointment.
Soaring Down South
During the offseason, the front office perhaps made the smartest move for the future: not trading Klay Thompson. Some fans clamored for Klay to be traded for the three-time All-Star Kevin Love, whose skill set seemed more appropriate than Klay’s at the time. At the FIBA World Cup, Klay showed undeniable growth and a confident swagger in his game, prompting Warriors’ management to offer him a four-year, $70 million contract.
Enter Steve Kerr.
Forty-three games into the season, the Warriors are sitting on top of the Western Conference standings with the best record in the league. This season has been a surreal, wild ride for Warriors fans, many of whom have never seen a team this good in their lifetime. The success is a result of a perfect mix between player development, team chemistry, team culture, and coaching.
For Klay Thompson to be selected as an All-Star signifies a milestone in his career and for this Warriors squad. The All-Star game may be just an annual tradition for players like LeBron, but for others it means a chance to represent their respective teams in a gathering of the league’s best players. It’s a career achievement.
Klay Thompson is an elite shooting guard, and for him to make the All-Star Team, in the Western Conference especially, says a lot about the season he’s been having. He has a true shooting percentage of 61.2% (a measure of shooting efficiency including two-point, three-point and free-throw percentage) while averaging a career high 23 points per game. His historic 37-point quarter was the ultimate outburst of confidence and skill; it marked the leap from being a great player to being a real star.
Any doubts about Klay before this season should be washed away by now. To add to a historic season, Curry and Thompson will be representing the Warriors in New York. There isn’t much more that Warriors fans can ask for (although a Larry O’Brien trophy would be pretty nice).
The two All-Star selections signify how far the franchise has come. Fans no longer have to worry about their team being a laughing-stock year after year and can now watch their two All-Stars carry their team to success.
Next: Roundtable Discussion: Did You Expect Klay Thompson to be This Good?