The NBA Substance Report: #26 Out of 30 - Klay Thompson

Hey everybody, this is Jack Martin aka Jack Sparkin' aka Jack the Martian aka The Flow. Ralph wanted me to let everyone know that I'm taking over for him because he's "an international PAWG Hunter of the 20th century without cellular connection." While he's off trekking international waters for the PAWG of his dreams, I'll fill out this series with some thoughts of my own. With that being said, here's the Substance Report.

To all of the loyal The Fro and The Flow podcast fans out there, I'm sure you're aware that Jack Martin and I have a nearly-weekly segment titled Watch The Throne (Yes, the segment is inspired by the greatest collaboration of all-time, Watch The Throne, by Jay-Z and Kanye West).

During this podcast segment, Jack Sparkin' and I break down the most talented basketball players in the world at that current moment by ranking them 1-15 (Think of it like this: If you were to start an NBA team today from scratch, zilch, nada, who would be the first player that you'd choose to help you win if they were all available?).

Because Jack and I are so dedicated to watching, observing, and sucking however much milk we can out of the NBA's utter, and are also two separate human beings, we have some disagreements every so often.

This daily column over the next 26 days will be relatively similar to that segment. The biggest, and most important difference is that this cluster fuck of a ranking will be an attempt towards breaking down the most valuable players in the NBA in accordance with how vital they are to their team's success (say, if you took Stephen Curry off of the Golden State Warriors, would they still be able to win a championship this season? Or if you took Giannis off of the Bucks would they win 45 games? And other hypothetical things of that nature).

26. Klay "Not Just Steph's Sidekick" Thompson

Ralph: If you think Klay Thompson is just a walking microwave, think again. The Warriors are 5-11 without Klay Thompson in the past three seasons. He is nearly as integral to Golden State's success as his backcourt brother Stephen Curry is, if not more.

Klay's ability to defend the other team's best guard has allowed Steph thousands of opportunities to rest on the defensive end of the floor, and save his fatigue to perform never-before-seen moves on the other end beyond the perimeter. Once again, this wouldn't be possible without Klay, a stout defender who's averaging a career high in steals per game this season.

Remember Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals against OKC in 2016 where Klay broke the playoff record for three-pointers in a single game? Well, he was also guarding Westbrook, one of the most energetic players in NBA history, for the entirety of that game. Talk about a two-way player.

Thompson has improved his playmaking ability over the course of his career and has more weapons around him now than he's ever had before. Look for the Warriors to come out of this slump they're currently in and turn things around come playoff time, with Klay being one of the catalysts that moves them towards completely unstoppable.

Jack: I'm not a fan of Golden State's dominance at all, but I respect Klay. Hell, I try and model my jumper after his sometimes. The way he's able to catch the ball perfectly in his pocket and follow through with a gorgeous stroke is like watching Wiz Khalifa get stoned; it just feels right. It took me way too long to come up with a simile for Klay's shot, but since he's one of my favorite NBA stoners, I figured I'd bring Wiz into this. I know it wasn't that good, but I'm on a SCHEDULE.

I don't want to interject too much into Ralph's series so I'll add this final thought (or plea): Klay would thrive shooting after a nice crisp pass from LeBron, who knows, maybe Kyrie too. At least consider it Klay.