Klay Thompson may have his retirement plan lined up.
“Absolutely, especially with that four-point ball,” the Dallas Mavericks sharp-shooter said when Michael Cooper asked him if he would consider joining the BIG3 after his NBA career ends (17:30 mark). “That gets me excited. I want the BIG3 to go international. That’d be so fun to see the BIG3 go overseas and do a tour.”
It comes as no surprise Thompson is intrigued by the long-range shots worth four points each in the Ice Cube-founded league.
After all, he is on the short list of the best shooters in NBA history and puts on a show whenever he heats up from long range. Whichever team had him on its BIG3 roster would have something of a cheat code, as he could create immediate separation on the scoreboard by hitting a handful of four-pointers to swing the game.
Thompson’s resume features four championships, five All-Star selections, two All-NBA nods and a spot on the 2018-19 All-Defensive Second Team. His all-around game has stood out a number of times throughout his career, but he is still best known for his shooting.
He led the league with 301 made three-pointers in 2022-23 when he was still with the Golden State Warriors, which was one of 10 seasons with more than 200 makes from deep.
As a result, Thompson is fifth on the NBA’s all-time list with 2,697 triples. Only fellow Splash Brother Stephen Curry, James Harden, Ray Allen and Damian Lillard have made more three-pointers, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if Thompson at least passed Allen in the coming years.
He figures to rack up plenty of triples during the upcoming season as well in Dallas with opposing defenses focused on Anthony Davis, Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving (when he returns from injury), so the BIG3 will have to wait.
But it will surely be happy to have Thompson when he does retire.