Klay Thompson is known as one of the elite sharpshooters in basketball.
He ranks as one of the best three-point shooters in NBA history, hitting 41.1% from beyond his career.
Thompson’s shooting heyday came during his time with the Golden State Warriors as Stephen Curry’s “splash brother.”
The former All-Star continues to showcase his shooting talent with the Dallas Mavericks, including during this year’s preseason.
Against the Charlotte Hornets, Klay Thompson scored 14 points while making four 3-pointers.
But his highlight of that game wasn’t just scoring, he served as the primary defender for Hornets star LaMelo Ball.
During his heyday with the Warriors, Thompson was also known as an elite on-ball defender, regularly guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter players.
Despite now being 35 years old, head coach Jason Kidd believes Thompson can still compete at a high level defensively, but he doesn’t intend to give him such assignments on a regular basis.
“Well, Melo is a little different because he can score and he can pass, but tonight was something we had to watch. It’s not easy to be hard on Melo because he gets the ball 90 percent of the time, but I think he (Thompson) did a good job,” Kidd explained.
“I thought he lifted us up offensively because he was able to knock down some shots, but I thought Clay could compete at that level at this stage of his career.
“We’re not going to ask him to do it every night, but I think he showed tonight he can compete,” he added.
In that game, despite Thompson’s defensive attention, Ball still performed well, recording 20 points and six assists in just 23 minutes.
This performance suggests that while Thompson maintains his defensive ability, asking him to guard an elite ball handler on a regular basis may not be the best strategy.
History has proven that Thompson has the skills to guard a premier guard, but age and accumulated mileage make such a mission unsustainable.
Fortunately for Dallas, they have good defensive options to share the load, including rookie Cooper Flagg and versatile forward P.J. Washington, who can guard multiple positions, including guard.