Frustrated Klay Thompson Sounds Off on Warriors Benching: ‘I Played Like Crap’

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There was no need to read between the lines regarding Klay Thompson‘s feelings after Steve Kerr made a surprising late-game decision to bench him. While it was an infrequent sight, the Warriors guard could be seen attempting to hold back his frustration after hearing of the decision, but avoided drawing too much attention.

Even after the narrow 119–116 loss to the Suns wrapped, Thompson did his best to say the right things but admitted he was frustrated, and it’s more than understandable. He’s been a top scorer in the NBA for many years now, and after calling the decision “pretty strange” twice, he even admitted that he deserved to be on the bench.

“Of course it frustrates me,” Thompson said, per The Athletic’s Anthony Slater. “You think I’m gonna just chill? I’m freaking competitive man. At the end of the day, I’m one of the most competitive people to put this uniform on. I can say that with confidence too. But whatever. I guess I didn’t bring it tonight. I deserved it.”

Thompson was then asked if he was given an explanation in the moment, to which Slater noted that Thompson said “nope” a total of five times.

“Nope,” Thompson said. “Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Whatever. I deserved to be benched tonight. I played like crap.”

Thompson logged 27 minutes in the loss, scoring seven points on 2-of-10 shooting while knocking down just 1-of-8 attempts from beyond the arc.