The full release of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team sparked debate among basketball fans over who did and did not make it, with seemingly everyone having something to say about it, including Warriors guard Klay Thompson.
Thompson posted on his Instagram that he believed he was deserving of being on a list that includes current and former teammates such as Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.
The anniversary team, which actually includes 76 players as a result of a tie from the voting panel, is supposed to comprise of the 75 greatest players in the league’s history. It’s no surprise that anyone who has seen the success that Thompson has, and contributed so heavily to that success as he has, believes that there aren’t 75 players better than him to ever play the game.
That being said, the likely issue for the Warriors guard is that he’s being punished, albeit justifiably, for missed time that was out of his control. Thompson has played just eight seasons in the league, and while he has used that time to show that he’s one of the greatest shooters in NBA history, he’s missed two prime seasons while recovering from an ACL tear one year, and an Achilles tendon injury the next. That likely hampered his chances of making the list.
There’s little doubt that Thompson is one of the most talented players to ever play in the league, as there’s belief that his return could catapult the Warriors back into immediate title contention. However, the people who voted on this team can’t work with hypotheticals, and what someone’s career could look like in the future. Instead, they had to focus on what had already happened, and they decided what had happened throughout Thompson’s career thus far was not enough to put him in the top 75.
Perhaps that changes in 25 years when not only do 25 more spots open up, but the voters can look at Thompson’s career in its entirety instead of just a portion of it.
