a8bil wrote:Glad you were able to get that off your chest... .Impuniti wrote:a8bil wrote:I think everyone has been a bit too harsh on Klay. Guy came back from 2 brutal injuries, which had to have been grueling in terms of the amount of pain he had to work through. He played last year, but the common wisdom, shown through many recent cases across multiple sports, is that Klay won't come back to 100% form (which may be less than pre-injuries) until this year. It was well known and discussed that Klay took off most of last summer, and it showed in the early season. No back to backs, time restrictions and his shot was off, but as the season progressed, he rounded more into game shape and had one of his best shooting seasons of his career. But the lack of depth took its toll on Klay. In the PS, he was playing over 36 minutes per game, and you could see his legs betraying him as the PS progressed. Maybe that's age, but I just don't think it is. I have a hard time saying that someone who has been as good as Klay has been (yeah, he's not Curry but he has been darn good), and who has worked as hard as he did to come back, doesn't deserve some benefit of the doubt.
People are not harsh enough on Klay, there's few players in NBA history that get away with the things he has throughout his entire career with total impunity. I can't blame someone when their shot just doesn't go in, because that's basketball. That can happen, and I would only put guys like Steph or KD in that category where they're expected to do it whether they have it for the night or not.
Klay's issues are far deeper than that. The guy is clearly one of the most arrogant and self-serving players we have in this game. When KD joined, him and Steph changed their game (KD at least for year 1) to try to get the whole team to work out. Klay is the only one that said "I'm not changing ****". People laugh it off as this funny story, but it shows what an egomaniac he is. Two of the best players of all time are willing to change their game for the betterment of the team, but the 4th most important guy in the team? No that's too much for him.
The guy is a legendary level egomaniac and what's amazing is how people gloss over everything he does as well "it's just Klay". Why did Klay have to start when he got two massive injuries and missed 2 1/2 years of basketball when he came back? The team was rolling then and the idea would have been to use him as a backup for a while until he's ready to not disrupt the way the team was going. JP and Klay were also playing the game of who can play for himself more this entire last season, where it felt like they were isolated from the rest of the team.
If Klay doesn't have it, why is he taking 19 shots in an elimination game? Oh because it's game 6, so it has to feed his ego. He was doing the same in 2022 game 6 as well despite shooting like ****, he was the only player that was playing only for himself. The same guy that's talking about being an allstar in his exit interview after he plays like garbage, more me me me. Frustrating to see Kerr bench any young guy for any mistake they make and these kids see Klay doing the same mistakes play after play after play in the bench.. again with impunity from Kerr. To me last season Kerr completely lost his voice and value as a coach with the young guys due to his embarrassing double standard that he set with Klay and the young dudes. Klay could have talked to Wiggins and encouraged him to be the #2 guy on the team, but instead he still clings on to that delusional dream. Afterall, he has to think of himself over the team. The most frustrating thing is that he showed he can play a vital role if he understood where he was at this point of his career. When the Warriors came back from 0-2 to 3-2, Klay took a lot less shots and just focused on team play. He was extremely efficient and effective. But again, to do that would be conceding that he's no longer the #2 guy and more of an Iggy type of role for the team. Can't have that role with that ego.
Yeah, you can let me know which parts I said don't make him a self-centered ahole, I'll wait.