Klay Thompson’s name wasn’t even mentioned on the scouting report.
The sophomore at Santa Margarita High School was getting ready to face a junior from Artesia High School, James Harden, in the California Interscholastic Federation Championship.
The Artesia coach at the time, Scott Pera – now an assistant at Rice – said he doesn’t remember Thompson then.
“I might have had him listed as a guy who could shoot the ball, a guy not to leave open,” Pera said. “But he certainly wasn’t their best player or anyone we were game planning against.”
Harden’s team won that day. Almost a decade later, he and Thompson are competing for another championship. This time it’s for the Western Conference title and both are at the top of the scouting report.
Thompson and Harden have both come a long way. Both were late bloomers in an area with an abundance of talent. And now both are trying to lead their teams as the Warriors and Rockets battle it out for a spot in the NBA Finals.
“It’s really cool,” Thompson said. “It’s awesome because I know he works really hard. I saw it last summer first hand with Team USA and we were both late bloomers. We weren’t really highly touted until late in our high school careers.”
Harden ended up at Arizona State and Thompson at Washington State before the two moved on to the next level.
They played each other twice in high school – with Artesia and Santa Margarita splitting the games. They also faced each other twice in college and it was Thompson’s Cougars who came out on top in both.
Harden then left for the NBA after his sophomore year and Thompson after his junior season.
While the two have seen each other on the court several times since then, they became closer when they both starred on the Team USA roster last summer.
They haven’t spent much time talking to each other during their playoff runs, but Thompson said they would in the offseason. For now, the two are just enjoying the journey.
“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun,” Thompson said. “We will probably talk about it more later. There is no love lost either. We are both going so hard and trying to do the best for our teams and win. It’s fun because we are both So Cal products and we grew up there in the same era.”
They could have also ended up teammates at one point. Pera said he scouted Thompson on the recruiting trail after he left Artisa and coached for the Sun Devils, but Arizona State didn’t end up giving him an offer. Pera said not getting Thompson Arizona State was one of his biggest regrets.
“I just wasn’t sure if physically if he would be able to hold up in that league,” Pera said. “Obviously he could make a shot but to see what he has become is incredible and I am really happy for him. There were a lot of guys in the Pac-10 at the time that sure wish we would have watched a little closer or been a little smarter.”
Thompson and Harden were two of many during a strong era of high school basketball in the area.
“I go back and look at James and the guys we played against – Quincy Pondexter, the Lopez twins, the Morris twins, Klay Thompson, Brandon Jennings,” Pera said. “I mean on and on and on of guys who have had great pro careers, played in the NBA or played overseas for years. It’s amazing the talent in Southern California and for Klay to be a part of that group and to excel like he has. It’s great to see. He has really grown into a terrific player.”
Harden and Thompson are going head to head in the playoff series, as Harden has been Thompson’s No. 1 priority. Thompson is the key defender on Harden for the Warriors.
Harden said that playing against an old friend is making the series even more fun for him.
“We battle,” Harden said. “We compete. We’ve known each other a long time and last summer we hung out a lot. To be in this situation now, it makes it more fun, but it’s still a war out there.”
Comments
Post a Comment