Photo Credit: AP Photo/John Hefti

Klay Thompson Was Hurt By Barkley’s Comments About Him Not Being The Same Player He Used To Be

Last season, Klay Thompson had been getting back into form, after his long-awaited comeback, only to be his best again come playoff time.

After working his way back following the torn ACL he suffered during the 2019 NBA Finals, Thompson received another devastating blow, when an injury he suffered in last year’s offseason turned out to be an Achilles tear.

But his hard work and strong will paid off, as Thompson was able to help the Warriors win the 2022 NBA Championship, and collect his title number four.

While Thompson still is a great player, he seems to have lost some explosiveness, especially on the defensive and. On Tuesday, former NBA star and now analyst Charles Barkley said that Thompson’s play was “slipping” and that “he’s not the same guy” he used to be.

Thompson now reacted to Barkley’s statement and revealed that he was hurt by his comments.

“It hurts when someone like Charles Barkley, with the platform he has, says you’re not the same player as prior to the injuries you had. It’s like, no duh, man. I tore my ACL and my Achilles in consecutive years and still helped a team win a championship. I mean, that hurt hearing that. Because it’s like, man, I put in so much freaking effort to get back to this point. Like, 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, like, give me some freaking time to get that back. To hear someone say, ‘Oh, he’s not the same as he was prior to the injuries.’ Like, duh. Who goes through something like that and comes back? Like, I don’t know, it just hurt my heart hearing that. But, you know what? I’m gonna internalize it and it’s gonna 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 gonna let these injuries be a crutch for me. I’m just gonna keep going and I’m gonna have a great year. Bet on that.”

Klay was hurt by Charles Barkley’s comments about him not being the same player he was before the injuries pic.twitter.com/8Rq2CmbeRf

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) October 28, 2022