Klay Thompson, Draymond Green omitted from NBA’s top 75: Steve Kerr speaks – Golden State of Mind

To honor 75 years of NBA basketball, the league announced on Thursday a list of the top 75 players in league history (76, actually, due to a tie). And while the Golden State Warriors were well represented on the list, two of their current stars were absent from it: Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

It’s hard to get too upset that Thompson and Green weren’t named two of the 75 best players out of a pool exceeding 6,000. There are a lot of really good players on the list (76, to be specific!), and more importantly, a lot of really good players off of it (most notably Dwight Howard, Tracy McGrady, Pau Gasol, and Nikola Jokić).

Still, you can make pretty strong cases for Green (three-time champion, three-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA, six-time All-Defense, one-time Defensive Player of the Year), and for Thompson (three-time champion, five-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA, one-time All-Defense). And I’m sure many people believe Green and Thompson should have made the list over some of the active players who did, such as Damian Lillard and Anthony Davis.

Count Warriors coach Steve Kerr among that group. Before the Warriors Thursday game against the Los Angeles Clippers, Kerr heaped praise on the two-way ability and championship pedigree of the two stars, saying he believed they should be on the top 75 list.

“I definitely think both guys are top 75,” Kerr said, after admitting that picking such a list is an impossible task. “Just based on winning, and two-way basketball, and everything that really matters more than statistics, and anything related to numbers. What matters is if you’re winning championships, then that’s what counts. So I would have hoped and thought that both guys would be on there.”

Kerr was one of 88 people — ranging from basketball legends, to current players, to media members — to get to vote on the 75th anniversary team. He didn’t reveal who he voted for, and it’s unclear if voters were barred from voting for players who they had a clear association with.

Thompson also addressed the omission, taking to social media to say that he believes he’s one of the 75 best players ever.

But Klay wasn’t the only one in his family to feel robbed. His dad, Mychal, also complained about his omission … albeit hilariously, and while fully understanding he was never under consideration.

What a family.