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Meet Klay Thompson

Get your work done early. It sounds simple, straightforward even, yet when shooting the basketball so many future NBA players in this draft simply have not mastered the one skill that can pay the bills long after the vigor of a young athlete fades.

Sound base, feet spread, elbow in, knees bent, shoulders square to the basket, active hands ready for a clean catch, wide fingers welcoming the leather dimples, erect elevation as if jumping out of a phone booth. Finish with a convincing snap of the wrist, for a faulty follow through can just as quickly turn the shots’ flight from first class to stand by. It sure sounds like an intricate dance for two seconds of action. Thankfully for the Warriors, it is hard coded into the muscle memory of their first round pick, Klay Thompson.  Then again, the Warriors needed a shooter like Charlie Sheen needed a vice.

Lucky for Thompson, the guy who taught him how to shave also knew a thing or two about draft night.  Klay’s father, Mychal Thompson was the first name called by the commissioner in the 1978 draft, selected by the Portland Trailblazers. A native of the Bahamas, (Mychal) Thompson was the first foreign-born player to be selected at that position. A successful 13-year career was highlighted by his tenure as a backup center on the back-to-back champion Showtime Lakers of the late 80’s. A trip to the Bahamas greets you with vivid ocean colors but look closer and you will notice a residue of purple and gold. This is in honor of  “Sweet Bells” as they call their patron son of the hardwood.

Coming out of Santa Margarita High School Klay was off the radar of the Pac-10 recruiting cognoscenti. The only Pac-10 school that seriously recruited Thompson was Washington State so it was off to Pullman to hone his game and punish the rest of the league for overlooking him. Thompson started every game his freshman year and showed promise with both his length and velvet jumper. A coaching change his sophomore year did little to affect the ascension of Klay Thompson who was a First team All Pac-10 member by the end of the year. While Thompson’s name started to echo out of the forest of Pullman into the national landscape, the Cougars watched the NCAA tournament from home outside looking in.

Following Thompson’s lead, the Cougars seemed to have a finely tuned focus towards the 2010-11 season. Now an upperclassman, Thompson was the distinct leader of the attack as they burst on to the scene with a record of 10-1 to start the season. His name was now prominent on scouting reports around the country. League play had started and the Cougars were fighting through the peaks and valleys of the Pac-10. Thompson was dumping in over twenty points a game as March hung in the distance. A student body that in prior years had little to cheer over now had visions of grandeur, a trip to the big dance.

Four steps away, four games to go against Pac-10 powers Washington (twice), USC and UCLA. Four wins would certainly get the Cougars off the bubble and into the tournament. With all the uncertainty of college basketball in early March nothing seemed more certain than Thompson’s jump shot. Eerie how the games brightest minds could not create a defense to corral Klay, yet a broken taillight could shut him down.

If there was any deliberation on who was the toughest cover in the state of Washington Thompson made a sound argument dropping 26 points on the Washington Huskies on the way to victory. The Cougars knew their final home stand against the Los Angeles schools would define their season. The momentum that can only be felt on a college campus when the team is getting hot was now swirling around Pullman. The Trojans of USC came in on a Thursday night and again Thompson put on an adroit offensive display with 22 points and another victory. Two games in, two wins, two games to go with the perennial league power, UCLA, coming to their gym Saturday.

Visit any campus in America on a Thursday night and you can sense a jovial benevolence in the air. Classes are winding down, barbeques are being lit and the promise and excitement of a weekend abounds. This can mean many things for many students. It can mean even more when you are the star of the basketball team who just hung 22 points in a big win. These are the nights that seem to provide clarity into million dollar athletes conceding there is no better time than college. It would be impossible to speculate where Thompson fell on the continuum of emotion that was gushing through campus that night but it had to be nice. Fellow students trying to shake your hand, Alumni all too quick to laugh at your jokes, coeds you never met whispering your name. Pats on the back are nice as long as they don’t push you in the wrong direction.

The picture is clear. Thompson and his friends riding in his Chevy Envoy out for the night, celebrating the big win with the star in the front seat. No need for gas money when you are riding on air, right? Then in the blink of a taillight the pragmatic yields to the puerile accentuated by the marijuana smoke double-teaming the upholstery. Around 11 o’clock the busted taillight catches the eye of a cop who decides to pull the Envoy to the side of the road. The cop approaches the car on the driver side window. The strong aroma leads him to discover two grams of weed in the car, Klay Thompson’s car. It would be a tough lesson for any kid to learn, even tougher when the campus rises and falls with your jump shot.

UntitledTo the credit of the Cougar program the rulebook had no caveats for future pros. Thompson was suspended for the game Saturday against the UCLA Bruins. Without their leader the Cougars fought valiantly, even forcing the game into overtime only to eventually lose by four points. Once again the tournament had no vacancy for the Cougars. It had to be difficult for Thompson, who had no prior history of off court trouble. Adding to the public admonishment was his father, who had a publicly candid response on LA sports talk radio,

“I said, ‘This how you prove yourself? Doing this? I said you just can’t do this son. We all have choices to make in life and I warned you and your brothers about these dangers, these temptations that you’re going to face.’ I want to hug my son and I want to punch his lights out. Or do both. I’m just so mad.”

For better or worse Klay Thompson is now a Warrior and hopefully garners the support of Golden State fans that have been called the best fans in the league for their unwavering loyalty. Any fan of the team must wonder though, with a bevy of potent outside shooters is this a harbinger to the departure of Monte Ellis? When this was posed to newly hired head coach Mark Jackson he was as clear as the fog, “I talked to Monte, he assured me he wants to play for a winner.” Thank you Coach Singletary.

If Jackson proves true on his promise to monetize playing time where the only tender accepted is defensive effort then any minutes Thompson gets will be earned. It is one thing to be a sufficient Pac-10 defender yet quite another to be busting through a NBA screen chasing the games best scorers. First and foremost the players must buy in or else Jackson’s fire and brimstone will quickly turn tired and monotone. Management seems to embrace the credo, bringing in defensive specialist Mike Malone as an assistant coach. It’s up to the Warriors to provide the sound base. It’s up to Klay Thompson to follow through.

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