With the announcement of the All-NBA Teams on Thursday, there was one name left off the list that concerns the Golden State Warriors: Klay Thompson.
While teammates Stephen Curry, First Team, and Kevin Durant, Second Team, earned nods, Thompson didn’t. And that will cost him a lot of money — up to $31 million in fact. Thompson missed the Third Team by finishing behind Charlotte Hornets point guard Kemba Walker and Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal.
According to Yahoo Sports:
Based on rules negotiated in the 2011 Collective Bargaining Agreement, it means he is eligible for a supermax contract with the Charlotte Hornets — a deal that would total $221 million over five years. That’s $31 million more than Charlotte would have been allowed to offer him had he not been selected to an All-NBA team.
Like Walker, Thompson is also on the verge of free agency and could have seen a bump in potential earnings — up to $221 million rather than $190 million — had he been voted to the third team.
While Walker and Beal put up more impressive stat lines by being “the man” on their respective teams, Thompson still puts up 21.5 points per game while being the third option behind Curry and Durant, and he’s a much better defender than either Walker or Beal. That proved as much when he was named to the All-Defensive Second Team on Wednesday.
At the end of the day, basketball is a team sport. Thompson is about to compete in his fifth straight NBA Finals on May 30 — something neither Walker nor Beal have come close to boasting about. Thompson will get over this snub in the way he knows best: winning.
