It's official — basketball is back.
With the defending-champion Milwaukee Bucks asserting their dominance over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday night and the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics playing a double-overtime, Madison Square Garden thriller on Wednesday night, what feels like the third NBA season in just two years is officially in full swing.
And with the NBA celebrating its 75th anniversary, the league has taken it upon itself (as it did in 1996, its 50th anniversary) to decide who have been the very best players in its history. Releasing a list of the top 75 (76, as there was a tie in voting between Anthony Davis, Carmelo Anthony and Russll Westbrook) players in league history over the course of this season's first three nights (25 names on Tuesday, 25 on Wednesday, 25 on Thursday) the NBA has made some obvious choices, and some surprising ones as well.
Where Michael Jordan, Bill Russell and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were all shoe-ins to make the list, other players, like Reggie Miller, Russell Westbrook and Damian Lillard were not sure things. Some players, like Dwight Howard, were surprising left off the unranked list.
Klay Thompson was one of those players.
Unlike long-time Warriors' teammate Stephen Curry, who easily made the top 75, Thompson was left off.
Taking to Instagram, the Golden State sharpshooter let it be known he disagreed with his absence.
"Maybe I'm just naive in my ability to play basketball," Thompson wrote. "But in my head I'm TOP 75 all time."
Thompson does have a case. Since coming into the league in 2011, he has racked up five All-Star appearances, two All-NBA appearances, one All-Defensive appearance and, most importantly, Thompson played a pivotal role in the Warriors winning three NBA titles from 2015-2018. But where Curry and fellow Golden State teammate, Kevin Durant, made the list, Thompson did not.
Obviously Thompson is not on the same level as Curry and Durant, and missing the last two seasons with injuries has not helped his case, but in the grand scheme of things, there is an argument to be made that Thompson is one of the 75 best players to ever step foot on an NBA court. However, if a resumé like Howard's didn't secure him on the list, it's not surprising that Thompson was left off.
What do you think of Thompson's claim he was snubbed? Do you agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments.
