Klay Thompson erupted in Game 4 of the Warriors vs. Clippers first round playoff series, scoring 32 points in a 113-105 win. Thompson broke the game open early by starting 7 of 7 from the field, then stayed hot throughout, finishing with 60% shooting from the field and going 6 of 9 from deep.
When asked after the game what caused the breakout performance, Thompson said he had reset his mind to get properly focused. And the cause of that reset was a jump in the Pacific Ocean.
Yes, a brief aquatic moment was apparently all Thompson needs to go 7 of 7 from the field to start a playoff game and score 32 points to give his team a needed win.
“I didn’t think I had bad games, but I didn’t have any big games,” Thompson said of his early series performance. “I told Jonas [Jerebko on Saturday] — we went to the beach and played some volleyball — I’m like, ‘Yo, I’m just going to jump in the ocean, and I just know that will reset my mind.’ And it worked. I don’t know if I’m going to jump [in the water] up north [in the Bay Area] because it’s freezing, but it’s something I’ll definitely contemplate if I don’t shoot the ball that well the rest of the year. But hopefully that doesn’t happen.”
Thompson has found his reset button, and it is the cool waters of the Pacific. Even Stephen Curry vouched for it, saying he saw Thompson after the dip and could immediately tell that he was going to have a big night.
“It’s the home cookin’,” Curry said. “I know the Pacific Ocean is undefeated. He got his feet wet [Saturday], walked in the hotel with a wet T-shirt, with his shades on. A typical Klay type of vibe. I just had a smile on my face when I saw him because I knew what that meant. It was nice for him to show out like he did. We needed every bit of it, for sure.”
If that reads like after-the-fact mythmaking, well, of course it is! But the NBA is fun, so have some fun.
Klay is leaning into the weird act here a bit, I’m sure, but he also generally seems like an interesting dude, and if he wants to talk about the restorative powers of the Pacific Ocean in post-game pressers, that’s a lot more interesting than all the other guys talking about staying aggressive and helping the team win. Do your thing, Klay.
