Klay becomes third NBA player with 300 3-pointers in one season originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea
Klay Thompson offered a strong response to all his doubters.
In the Warriors' regular-season finale Sunday, Thompson made five first-quarter 3-pointers against the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center, giving him 300 for the season -- the first time he has reached that milestone.
Thompson joins teammate Steph Curry and former NBA MVP James Harden as the only players in league history to make at least 300 3-pointers in a season. Curry has done it four times (2015-16, 2016-17, 2018-19, 2020-21) and Harden once (2018-19).
Thompson entered the finale with 295 3-pointers, and coach Steve Kerr knew the four-time NBA champion would come out gunning for 300 early against the Blazers.
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Kerr wasn't wrong, as Thompson took eight 3-point attempts in the first quarter alone.
"I am concerned. I am definitely concerned,” Kerr jokingly told reporters before Sunday's game. “My message will be you’re more likely to get it if you don’t try to get it. That’s the truth.
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"There’s a lot of individual stuff that’s meaningful, I recognize that,” Kerr said. “… If Klay can get to 300, great, but the danger is you get out of character -- or in Klay’s case, in character -- and you shoot every time.”
Earlier this season, Thompson faced criticism from Charles Barkley, the Basketball Hall of Famer and TNT analyst, who believed the sharpshooter wasn't the same player he was before he suffered two major leg injuries. Thompson made it clear he needed time to return to the level of play that he expected from himself, and as the season played out, he became stronger.
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Doing something he has never done before and that just two other players have achieved seems like a perfect reply to the naysayers.
