Photo Credit: USA TODAY Sports

Klay Thompson Reveals The Biggest Lesson He Learned From Kobe Bryant

I’m not putting my head above the parapet when I say that Kobe Bryant is the second best shooting guard in NBA history. Kobe is an all-time talent many players still look up to and model their game after.

One of the ‘students’ is Klay Thompson, one of the greatest shooting guards of this new generation of NBA guards. Thompson already explained that he modelled certain parts of his offensive game after Bryant.

But in a recent interview with The Mercury News, Thompson revealed that it is not just Kobe’s offense he modelled his game after, but also his defense:

“My biggest lesson I learned from Kobe is not to jump for any pump fakes,” Klay Thompson said. “He had a lethal pump fake. He probably got every single person in the NBA with it.”

Unlike Kobe, Klay has not made any All-Defensive teams in his career, which is surprising because many consider him to be one of the best perimeter defenders, and best defending guards in general, in the league.