In honor of the NBA’s 75th season, the league published its own list of the 75 greatest players ever — an ode to the history of basketball
Of course, anytime a ranking like this comes out, feelings always get hurt and this time was no exception.
Among the many players who got “snubbed” was Warriors star Klay Thompson, who raged about not making the cut on social media.
He also got trolled by some of his Warriors teammates, who hung a special jersey in the locker room.
Steve Kerr also talked about it, revealing that it will help fuel Thompson for his upcoming return.
“You have to have humor with everything and his teammates [Curry and Green] obviously got that done to have a laugh with him,” Kerr told NBC Sports. “But I think all these guys, they are so competitive by nature. They wouldn’t have made it this far if they weren’t really competitive and at some point, guys latch onto things to drive them.”
“Klay’s accomplished pretty much everything,” he continued. “He’s a multi-time champion, a multi-time All-Star, one of the great 3-point shooters ever. He’s already competitive but if that’s what it takes to make him more competitive, then we’ll take it.”
Of course, he also made sure to note his belief that Klay (and Draymond) are Top 75 players.
“I definitely think that both guys [Thompson and Green] are top 75,” he said.
As a multiple-time Champion, premier defender, and one of the greatest shooters earth has ever seen, the case can be made he is a top 75 all-time player.
Unfortunately, the list is out now, so there’s no going back on his exclusion now.
Going forward, Thompson can use that ranking as motivation to help propel his recovery and return to his status as an All-Star caliber player.
If the Warriors are going to make any kind of noise this campaign, they’ll definitely need some production from him.
