Klay Thompson earned the first ejection of his career this week during a loss against the Phoenix Suns.
Thompson, who has been in the NBA for a decade, had never previously gotten the boot from a game.
During a particularly contentious third quarter battle with Devin Booker, Thompson caught two technical fouls from the refs.
Klay has been ejected from the game đŹ pic.twitter.com/oqN2WyB7Uq
â Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 26, 2022
While the ejection in itself is no big deal, fans couldnât help but wonder why the usually-lighthearted Thompson has been so tense as of late.
This week, an answer emerged courtesy of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr.
Steve Kerr says that Klay Thompson has been frustrated with his minute restriction: pic.twitter.com/HoPpbrr0ml
â Jason Dumas (@JDumasReports) October 26, 2022
“He’s frustrated that he can’t play more right now,â Kerr said.
âHe’d like to have his minutes bumped up, but the reality is you get a little older as a player when you’ve had some injuries is you’ve got to be a little more patient. You have to be on top of everything all year long, and you’ve got to be careful.
âWe’re not going to mess around with that. So, his minutes will stay the same and he’ll be frustrated because he’s Klay, but he’ll be fine.”
Thompsonâs agitation previously reared its head when Kerr inadvertently admitted that he and Jordan Poole had at one point this summer gotten into it. Their clash predated Draymond Greenâs infamous altercation with Poole.
Thompsonâs frustrations are understandable. And itâs easy to see why he was annoyed on Tuesday night. With Booker guarding him, Thompson went 0-for-4 from the field and 0-for-3 from beyond the arc. Thatâs not great.
For the entire outing he finished with 2 points on 1-of-8 shooting in 19 minutes.
Ja Morant is having himself quite the season. https://t.co/hObThQ4ou4
â Game 7 (@game7__) October 25, 2022
So far this year Thompson is averaging 11 points per game on 35.6 percent shooting from the field and 28.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Him being high-strung at the moment is reasonable, but he still needs to tighten up and get it under control.
Itâs a long season, and Thompson knows that better than anyone.
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A graduate from the University of Texas, Anthony Amador has been credentialed to cover the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Mavericks and high school games all over the Lone Star State. Currently, his primary beats are the NBA, MLB, NFL and UFC.
