NBA Rumors: Will Kevin Durant Takeover Klay Thompson’s Role in the Warriors?

By Carlo Monzon
Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant
Oakland, CA, USA; USA guard Kevin Durant (5) is congratulated by forward Draymond Green (14) behind guard Klay Thompson (11) against China in the first quarter during an exhibition basketball game at Oracle Arena.  Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

Now that Kevin Durant will be moving to the Golden State Warriors, Klay Thompson is expecting that his role in the team will decrease. Other people are now even starting to compare him to Chris Bosh when LeBron James joined the Miami Heat.

When Durant announced his decision to join the Warriors, he got a lot of heat from fans, especially followers of his previous team, the Oklahoma City Thunder. But now that the criticisms have subsided, critics have turned their attention on the Golden State organization.

The Warriors are now certainly looking like a super-team with Durant, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Thompson in the lineup. But, as noted by several sources, putting all of these superstars in one team will most likely cause some friction.

One of its potential effects is that a key player will have lesser roles. Since Curry and Green are still very prominent shooters in Golden State, that player could be Thompson.

As noted by ESPN, he could end up being the Warriors' Bosh. According to the news site, when James was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Bosh was the superstar of Miami. However, he had to make way for James' arrival. In fact, he even warned Kevin Love about living in the shadow of James when they both joined the Cleveland organization.

Likewise, Thompson could end up going through what Bosh experienced a few years ago. He could get pushed from a franchise player into just a supporting teammate.

Although Thompson also thinks that he'll get less time handling the ball once Durant steps in, he's still very optimistic about being his teammate. And, since the team is now filled with shooters, Thompson is looking forward to taking unguarded shots.

"Definitely open shots, you know?" he told ESPN. "It's one thing to get shots, but it's easier to be more efficient when you're getting open looks. So I'd definitely go with the latter."

He's also not bothered by the fact that his role will get reduced because of Durant. For him, what's more important is winning games.

"I know how good I am in this league," he said. "I'm not going to judge my performance off numbers or anything. If we get wins, it really doesn't matter, man. It's all good."

As for the Warriors being dubbed as the super-team and new villain in the NBA, Thompson believes this will provide an interesting experience next season, according to Fox Sports. He noted that since the year tends to get boring at times, playing as a member of the hated team will certainly bring some spark to their games.

"The NBA season can get mundane," he told Yahoo! Sports. "82 games are so long and there can be some boredom. Now, we can embrace being the hated team and getting everyone's best, and adding some tension every night."

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