Warriors' Klay Thompson 'Grateful' for Andrew Wiggins: 'Makes My Job So Much Easier'
There was a time when Klay Thompson was the Golden State Warriors' two-way player tasked with scoring 20-plus points all while defending the opponent's best player on a nightly basis.
He's thankful that task now belongs to Andrew Wiggins.
"I'm so grateful for Andrew, though," he said during an interview with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson for Showtime's All The Smoke. "Oh my gosh, he makes my job so much easier. I watch him, like, bro, I can't believe you have to chase around Dončić and Tatum and Morant all game and then go get us 20. I'm exhausted watching you play."
Thompson will forever be a Warriors legend for his role in helping the team win four championships.
He is one-half of the Splash Brothers backcourt with Stephen Curry, one of the best shooters in NBA history, a five-time All-Star and a 2018-19 All-Defensive second-team selection. The All-Defensive honor underscores just how important his efforts were on that side of the ball during the run to five straight NBA Finals from 2015 through 2019.
Yet he missed the 2019-20 season as he recovered from a torn ACL he suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals loss to the Toronto Raptors and the 2020-21 season with a ruptured Achilles.
The physical toll of back-to-back significant injuries, and the fact he will turn 33 years old in February, means he is no longer as well-suited to assume the same level of defensive responsibilities all while remaining a threat from beyond the arc on the offensive side.
Fortunately for Thompson, the Warriors traded for Wiggins during the 2019-20 campaign while he was out.
The 27-year-old Wiggins is now tasked with defending the opponent's best wing player, which takes some of the pressure off the Splash Brothers' shoulders and allows them to focus more of their energy on offense.
Golden State likely would not have won the title last season without Wiggins battling on the boards, providing secondary scoring and defending the likes of Luka Dončić and Jayson Tatum.
Thompson knows it.
