The Golden State Warriors looked back to themselves on Thursday night with a much-needed victory as they defeated the Miami Heat with stars Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins performing well.
Thompson and Green, especially, have played at an elite, all-star calibre level for the better part of eight years. But now, with both on the wrong side of 30, questions are being asked about the future of the Warriors, and whether the team will be needed to be broken up. Green is set to become a free agent next summer, and has been strongly linked to the Los Angeles Lakers. Thompson, meanwhile, remains under contract until 2024.
The shooting guard has suffered two serious injuries after tearing his ACL in 2019 before tearing his Achilles just a year later, as he effectively missed two years of basketball. Since coming back to the team this year, Thompson played his part in winning a fourth NBA championship, and will go down as one of the best shooting guards of all-time.
But questions are being asked about what he'll able to bring long-term, with NBA Hall of Famer and analyst Charles Barkley having a few words.
Earlier this week, Barkley said: "I think, as much as I love Klay, he's slipping. Same thing with Draymond. They're not the same. In the Finals, you can see they're not the same guys they were two or three years ago. So when I watch the Warriors play, I say 'oh man, Father Time is knocking on the door of a couple of those guys.'
"These guys have won four championships, that's like playing two or three extra seasons. They're passed 30 (years old), you factor in Klay who's had two major surgeries. I think you saw tonight he's like 'this young boy is kicking my ass, ain't nothing I can do about it.' There was a time when Klay Thompson was the best two-way guard in the NBA and he's not the same guy and that's because of injuries. Is he done? No, I don't think he's done. I think he's slowing down and it's catching up with him, that's why he's frustrated."
These quotes came after the Warriors were defeated by the Phoenix Suns, in which Thompson got into it with Devin Booker, who scored 34 points whilst being guarded by Thompson throughout the night. Just days later after defeating the Heat on Thursday, Thompson responded. He said: "It hurts when someone like Charles Barkley, with the platform that he has, says you're not the same player prior to the injuries you had.
"It's like 'No, duh, man.' Consecutive years, like. I tore my ACL and Achilles in consecutive years and still helped the team win a championship. It hurt hearing that because I put so much freaking effort to get back to this point. It's hard to even put into words what I had to do to be the player I am today.
"I played 55, 57 games in three years. Give me some freaking time to get that back. To hear someone say 'Oh, he's not the same player as he was prior to the injuries.' Like, duh. Who goes through that and comes back...I don't know, it just hurt my heart hearing that.
"But you know, I'm going to internalize it and it's going to be fuel for me to be even better. I'm very proud of what we accomplished last year and I feel like I was a huge part of it. I'm not going to let these injuries be a crutch for me. I'm just going to keep going and I'm going to have a great year. You can bet on that."
Thompson will look to continue to prove Barkley and other doubters wrong this season with the Warriors expected to be a finals contender once again.
