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Klay Thompson either enjoyed moving to the bench, or took it personally.
The four-time NBA champion and five-time All-Star came off the bench for the first time since his rookie season on Thursday after Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr replaced him with rookie Brandin Podziemski. The move snapped a streak of 727 games started for Thompson, who ended the Warriors' last game with a significant gaffe.
The move was a surprise but also a long time coming. No player on the Warriors has shown their age this season as much as the 34-year-old Thompson, who entered Thursday averaging 17.0 points per game (his worst mark since 2012-13) and shooting career worsts from the field (41.5%) and from 3-point range (36.8%).
It could have been a tough moment for a respected player. Instead, he responded with his best game of the season.
Thompson scored a season-high 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting with zero turnovers and personal fouls. He also surpassed the 15,000-point mark in his career.
If Thompson minded the move to the bench, he didn't show it at halftime while speaking with NBC Sports Bay Area, when he credited the role for his "fresh legs" or after the game, when he provided some prospective, via Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News:
“More importantly I realized I’m gonna play a lot of minutes. So you have to let the ego when you think about coming off the bench. I thought of Manu Ginobili, that guy has four rings and a gold medal and he came off the bench his whole career.”
Thompson is now set to get some more rest via the All-Star break, with the Warriors' next game scheduled at home against the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 22. It appears he will be coming off the bench for that game too, as Kerr told reporters after the game he'll stick with Thompson off the bench moving forward, though he also said it "doesn't mean it's permanent."
Thompson's performance Thursday is a good indication he still has something left in the tank, but you can't blame for the Warriors for wanting to see just how much juice "Bench Klay" has.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
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