Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors have absolutely dominated the Western Conference for the last five seasons.
However, with Kevin Durant leaving and Thompson out for a while with a torn ACL injury, the Western Conference is finally wide open again. One of the major contenders are the Los Angeles Lakers, led by Anthony Davis and LeBron James.
At one point, it was reported Thompson might be interested in signing with Los Angeles, but he ended up signing a max contract extension with the Warriors. This was mostly due to the fact that the Warriors prioritized keeping him over Durant, a gesture he clearly appreciated.
Now, with Thompson out for most of the 2019-20 NBA season, he can take a look at the league with a little more objectivity. In Thompson’s analysis, he can clearly see that the Warriors are no longer in their own class and it’s in part due to the dominant frontcourt the Lakers have, via ESPN Los Angeles:
“Explosive. Like whenever you get two MVP candidates like LeBron and AD and then add so much size around them with JaVale and Dwight, I mean they can really punish you inside just like old Lakers teams used to do. Their frontcourt is definitely one of the best in the NBA and then the bench is deep. The guard play is good with Rondo. I’m kind of jealous you got our boy Quinn, he’s a tremendous spark plug off the bench. But I mean, the West is stacked, especially the Pacific Division. See, we held it down the last few years but not anymore with the Lakers back.”
After raving about the Lakers, Thompson spoke to what it’ll mean for them to have Davis and for him to have a teammate like LeBron James:
“It’s pretty amazing. He had a great run in New Orleans. He took his team to the playoffs like four out of seven years, made it to the second round a couple years. He’s had great talent, but he’s never had another superstar like LeBron to play with, so it’s going to be fun. And I know Staples is going to be rocking this year. It’s been a while since they got that aura back and it’s definitely back, especially with that other team that’s in there.”
Thompson sees just how fun of a season it could be for the Lakers as an organization and for the fans. Having two players of James and Davis’ caliber is rare in this league.
Thompson also likely saw what the Lakers depth and size did to the Warriors in their first preseason matchup where Davis simply dominated down low and could get whatever he wanted, scoring 22 points in just 18 minutes.
