Apparently when you average 32.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, and shoot 51.7 percent from the field, 62.2 percent from three, and 91.7 percent from the line while your team goes 4-0 during a week, you get to be named Western Conference Player of the Week. That was what Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors earned today.
Thompson dazzled with two 40-point performances this week, and his team’s perfect record helped him earn his first Player of the Week honor this season. Stephen Curry, Thompson’s backcourt mate, has earned five this season, and the versatile Draymond Green has one to his name, as well.
Thompson gets assisted on a lot of his shots. In fact, 77.8 percent of the baskets he made during this four game stretch, or 35 to be exact, were assists for his teammates. Thompson gets assisted on a lot of his shots, but he’s still a fantastic shooter in his own right, and that’s the special thing about him. Whether shooting the three with great accuracy, driving to the hoop for a layup or dunk after a closeout from a defender, or just doing everything in his power to score in a variety of ways, Thompson is a great player in this league, and it’s fantastic that he got honored as such after a tremendous week.
For more information refer to the official Warriors press release below:
KLAY THOMPSON NAMED WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Thompson Led The League With 32.3 Points Per Game During Golden State’s 4-0 Week
OAKLAND, CA – Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson has been named the NBA Western Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, March 21, through Sunday, March 27, the NBA announced today. Thompson is the third Warrior to earn a weekly accolade this season, joining Stephen Curry (five times) and Draymond Green (once) to give Golden State its seventh Player of the Week Award in 2015-16, the first time the franchise has had three different players win the award in the same season since Chris Mullin, Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond all earned the honor in 1990-91.
Thompson led the Warriors to a 4-0 week with averages of a league-leading 32.3 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 35.0 minutes, hitting 62.2 percent from three-point range (28-of-45) and 51.7 percent overall from the field. Thompson finished the week with a pair of 40-point performances on March 25 vs. Dallas and March 27 vs. Philadelphia, giving him back-to-back 40-point games for the first time in his career. Thompson and Curry are the first teammates to both record consecutive 40-point performances at some point in the same season since Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe did so with the Denver Nuggets in 1982-83.
During the week, Thompson set a new single-season career-high for three-pointers (now 253 threes), combining with Curry (350) to hit over 600 threes this season—the first pair of teammates ever to combine for 600 triples. Thompson hit at least five threes in all four games last week, joining Curry as the only players to hit at least five threes in four-straight games this season. With a 4-0 record on the week, Golden State improved to 66-7 (.904) on the campaign, the best mark through 73 games in NBA history, joining the Chicago Bulls (1995-96 & 1996-97) as the only teams to win 66 games in consecutive seasons. Golden State went 3-0 at home during the week, extending its NBA record for consecutive regular-season home wins to 53-straight.
The award marks the 43rd time a Warriors player has been named Player of the Week since the NBA began giving out the award in 1979 and is Thompson’s fourth career weekly honor. Cleveland’s LeBron James was named Player of the Week in the Eastern Conference.
For more information on the Golden State Warriors 2015-16 season, presented by Kaiser Permanente, visit warriors.com.