All-time great ranking: Klay Thompson vs. Damian Lillard?

[Black Jack]

I can't believe some people actually think Klay has an argument here. Klay was a 2nd scoring option but he was entirely a complimentary player, he could barely dribble, draymond controlled the ball more than him. I love Klay but he's a 3+D player, albeit a great one, he didn't have the talent to do much outside of that

What do you think would happen if Klay tried to perform in Dames role. Dame is a primary scoring option, he took on the opponents best defenders night in and night out and always had the ball in his hands creating offense.

These guys are not equal, don't let team success blur those lines

Being a primary ballhandler is worth that much?

I guess Dame > Kareem then.

[Whopper_Sr]

Lillard, despite his lack of team accomplishments, is still arguably a top 5 offensive player of this era. Klay never approached that level. His man defense isn't near enough to make up for the difference in playmaking and load.

[floppymoose]

GSW fan here: i vote Dame

[Old_Blue]

Bad comparison. Klay and Dame are completely different players. For this reason, had the dynasty era Warriors ever been offered a straight up exchange of Dame for Klay, they would have flat out rejected the offer. As a backcourt partner for Steph, Klay was perfect - the Stoned Cold Assassin to Steph's Baby Faced Assassin. And, yes, I spelled that exactly as intended.

[DusterBuster]

Klay is a great player, if you were to build a team around him where he was the undisputed best player, they would likely never make it past the play-in.

Dame got his Blazer teams to the playoffs almost every year until injuries started to pile up with a WCF appearance carrying a really hobbled Blazer team on his back.

Klay is an all-time #2 option in his prime, but would basically be like the Kings and Kevin Martin had the Warriors never got Steph and Klay was the best player they drafted in that era.

[DusterBuster]

Bad comparison. Klay and Dame are completely different players. For this reason, had the dynasty era Warriors ever been offered a straight up exchange of Dame for Klay, they would have flat out rejected the offer. As a backcourt partner for Steph, Klay was perfect - the Stoned Cold Assassin to Steph's Baby Faced Assassin. And, yes, I spelled that exactly as intended.

Also agreed, I hate comping players who are entirely different.

[JRoy]

Lillard.

[rand]

All-NBA Selections
Dame: 1x 1st, 4x 2nd, 2x 3rd
Klay: 2x 3rd

Regular Season VORP
Dame: 54.5
Klay: 17.3

Playoff VORP
Dame: 4.1
Klay: 3.5

That Dame leads even in playoff VORP is especially persuasive given that he only played 68 playoff games while Klay played 158.

[WarriorGM]

Those saying it ain't close seem to forget they did face off in the playoffs previously as their respective team's primary scorer.

[picc]

Klay is a great player, if you were to build a team around him where he was the undisputed best player, they would likely never make it past the play-in.

Dame got his Blazer teams to the playoffs almost every year until injuries started to pile up with a WCF appearance carrying a really hobbled Blazer team on his back.

Klay is an all-time #2 option in his prime, but would basically be like the Kings and Kevin Martin had the Warriors never got Steph and Klay was the best player they drafted in that era.

No he's not.

Not even close to that.

[DusterBuster]

Klay is a great player, if you were to build a team around him where he was the undisputed best player, they would likely never make it past the play-in.

Dame got his Blazer teams to the playoffs almost every year until injuries started to pile up with a WCF appearance carrying a really hobbled Blazer team on his back.

Klay is an all-time #2 option in his prime, but would basically be like the Kings and Kevin Martin had the Warriors never got Steph and Klay was the best player they drafted in that era.

No he's not.

Not even close to that.

Ok, maybe giving him too much credit, but he was an elite 2nd option next to Steph.

My larger point still stands, Dame - on a pure individual talent standpoint - is superior to Klay. You cannot build a winning team with Klay as your best player. Dame took so absolutely garbage rosters way further than they had any right to go.

[picc]

Klay is a great player, if you were to build a team around him where he was the undisputed best player, they would likely never make it past the play-in.

Dame got his Blazer teams to the playoffs almost every year until injuries started to pile up with a WCF appearance carrying a really hobbled Blazer team on his back.

Klay is an all-time #2 option in his prime, but would basically be like the Kings and Kevin Martin had the Warriors never got Steph and Klay was the best player they drafted in that era.

No he's not.

Not even close to that.

Ok, maybe giving him too much credit, but he was an elite 2nd option next to Steph.

According to what?

No shade. It's just not true.

I also understand we're kind of arguing in the same direction, so its all good. But he wasn't that at all. Even in the '16 season the Warriors won a metric ton of games they weren't supposed to just because Curry went ape ****. He really dragged them to those 73 wins in a way. Well, he and Green. Klay's importance to those teams was WELL behind Green's.

Thompson was good in the playoffs and had defensive value and had some explosive games but he vanished pretty often too. He's more like a super-ultra-elite role player than any kind of elite 2nd option.

[DusterBuster]

No he's not.

Not even close to that.

Ok, maybe giving him too much credit, but he was an elite 2nd option next to Steph.

According to what?

No shade. It's just not true.

I also understand we're kind of arguing in the same direction, so its all good. But he wasn't that at all. Even in the '16 season the Warriors won a metric ton of games they weren't supposed to just because Curry went ape ****. He really dragged them to those 73 wins in a way. Well, he and Green. Klay's importance to those teams was WELL behind Green's.

Thompson was good in the playoffs and had defensive value and had some explosive games but he vanished pretty often too. He's more like a super-ultra-elite role player than any kind of elite 2nd option.

OMG dude, I don't care that much. I genuinely don't. You're right, take the win.

[picc]

Ok, maybe giving him too much credit, but he was an elite 2nd option next to Steph.

According to what?

No shade. It's just not true.

I also understand we're kind of arguing in the same direction, so its all good. But he wasn't that at all. Even in the '16 season the Warriors won a metric ton of games they weren't supposed to just because Curry went ape ****. He really dragged them to those 73 wins in a way. Well, he and Green. Klay's importance to those teams was WELL behind Green's.

Thompson was good in the playoffs and had defensive value and had some explosive games but he vanished pretty often too. He's more like a super-ultra-elite role player than any kind of elite 2nd option.

OMG dude, I don't care that much. I genuinely don't. You're right, take the win.

[dhsilv2]

The battle of team success vs individual success. Most will probably side with Klay as he's won rings and that matters most to the general fan. Klay has had a very Manu-like career in terms of role and success. Players like Manu when it's all said and done are definitely more revered than those who put up stats and couldn't win.

Manu was one of the greatest player of his era and an all time great. Klay is nothing remotely like that.

[dhsilv2]

I mean, neither is going to win you a championship as your best player. But Klay is way more portable on offense and just a much better defender than Dame.

I’ll take Klay.

Edit: I misread(didn’t read) the thread title

Klay isn't that much better of a defender. I can't tell what's more overrated sometimes. Klay's offense or his defense.

[dballislife]

honestly if you ask 10 basketball fans imo at least 8 of them should say lillard

[dhsilv2]

Dame easily.

There is a huge difference in peak impact, and Klay's championships as a complementary player, 3 of which he was the 4th most important player on the team, don't make up for the gap.

People are going to end up forgetting how good peak Dame was because we never got to see him compete for a championship.

What year was he not 4th or 5th? Even 2015 Iggy had the higher WS and VORP in the playoffs. Was the more important defender and so on. Even on offense the gap was 8 points more with 1 less assist. Despite playing more minutes.

[dhsilv2]

Those saying it ain't close seem to forget they did face off in the playoffs previously as their respective team's primary scorer.

The 3 whole games they played without Steph in 2016 where Iggy had the warrior's high game score in one game and Dray and Klay were basically tied (klay 15.6 vs 15.5 for dray) and in the other game Dray lead the team in game score with 29.1 vs Klay's 28.0 (awesome game by klay btw, not trying to knock it). And then in game 3 Dray dropped 37 9 and 8 to lead the team?

Then you know steph came back and dropped 40 off the bench.

[dhsilv2]

honestly if you ask 10 basketball fans imo at least 8 of them should say lillard

11 should say Lillard. That's right, some dude outa nowhere should come over and interrupt and smack you for even asking the question.