LeBron James’ Biggest Critic, Skip Bayless, Backs Klay Thompson to be Better Than Tatum & Brown in Finals

Posted on by Jack Marks

The Golden State Warriors went to their sixth NBA finals in the last eight seasons by defeating the Dallas Mavericks 120-110 in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals last week. Klay Thompson shimmied his way to 32 points. Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Steph Curry have all gone through the NBA playoffs’ crucible.

In total playoff minutes, the star trio ranks sixth, ninth, and tenth, respectively, among active players. This is mostly due to the fact that they are going to compete in their sixth Finals together.

Stephen Curry Draymond Green Klay Thompson
Credits: Sportskeeda

The Warriors are returning to a familiar stage after missing the playoffs in back-to-back injury-plagued seasons in 2020 and 2021. Thompson was the star of the game, having missed the previous two seasons due to injury but showing signs of his former self in the clinching.

Skip Bayless backs Klay Thompson for NBA Finals MVP

Skip Bayless recently tweeted in support of Warriors star Klay Thompson and backed him for the coveted NBA Finals MVP award.

“Klay Thompson will be better than Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in the Finals. I am not writing off Klay Thompson to be MVP of this series.”

Thompson has been amazing on the court, especially given he hasn’t played in the playoffs since 2019 due to a ruptured ACL and Achilles tendon. His effective field-goal percentage is at a career-high, while his scoring is above his career postseason average. He’s been Golden State’s second-most-efficient isolation player in the playoffs, according to Second Spectrum, and he’s establishing a career-high in postseason isolation efficiency since the player monitoring period began in 2013-14.

Image Credits – Sky Sports

During the regular season, he was Golden State’s most efficient pick-and-roll ball handler. He has been Golden State’s most accurate 3-point shooter in the playoffs, shooting 39.9% from beyond the arc. He’s made terrific decisions this postseason, averaging the second-lowest seconds per touch and the second-fewest dribbles per touch since 2013-14. At the same time, the Warriors are averaging the most points per possession with a Thompson touch since the 2013-14 postseason. From the vantage point of a bird’s-eye perspective, he looked like Klay Thompson.