Klay Thompson Responds to Kevin Durant’s ‘Never an MVP Candidate’ Comment

Kevin Durant's comparison of their Golden State Warriors squad to the current Philadelphia 76ers team gets a response from Klay Thompson.

Klay Thompson Responds to Kevin Durant’s ‘Never an MVP Candidate’ Comment

Klay Thompson responds to Kevin Durant (Image via The Mercury News/NBA.com)

Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant were teammates for three seasons in the Golden State Warriors from 2016 to 2019. During their time together, they formed one of the greatest teams of all time alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.

Thompson was drafted by the Warriors as the 11th pick in the 2011 NBA draft. He may have not possessed the same star power or gotten the same attention as Curry or Durant, but he did play a vital role in each of their championship runs.

Meanwhile, Durant joined the Dubs as a free agent in 2016 after they blew a 3-1 lead against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals. After Durant signed with them, he turned them into a juggernaut in the league.

The two-time champion took to Instagram to defend his take on comparing James’ Philadelphia 76ers move to him joining the Warriors in 2016.

Joel, MVP recently. Jaylen Brown, recent Finals MVP, Tyrese Maxey, All-Star the last 3 years. We all know what Bron does. Klay Thompson, never a MVP candidate in nothing, 22 PPG. Draymond 14 PPG, 7 rebounds, 6 assists. Steph a MVP just like Joel was. I don’t get how the Warriors team is better on paper.

Kevin Durant on Instagram

Kevin Durant is coming off a disappointing end to his 2025-26 campaign with the Houston Rockets as he continues to search for his first championship outside of Golden State.

Recently, the forward spoke about the 76ers being contenders next year after signing James and compared the team to the 2017-18 Warriors.

His comments drew criticism from various figures across the NBA world. Nevertheless, Durant justified his comparison in an Instagram comment.

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Klay Thompson fires back at Kevin Durant

There is no doubt that the 76ers are strong contenders to make it out of the Eastern Conference next year. After the addition of Jaylen Brown and James, they could possess the most dominant starting five in the league on paper.

Durant’s comment on Instagram caught several eyeballs and unfortunately for him, it came to the attention of Klay Thompson as well. The 36-year-old took to his Instagram stories to fire back at his former teammate.

Aye man, u good? What u using my full government [name] for?

Klay Thompson on Instagram

Durant’s departure from the Warriors did not happen on the best of terms. Green revealed that the Warriors forced him to apologize to Durant after their heated exchange on the court. The beef between the two led to Durant not signing a new contract with them.

However, there has never been a report of Durant and Thompson having any issues with each other. Hence, it seems a bit harsh for Durant to describe Thompson in the way he did. The four-time champion is a five-time All-Star and one of the greatest shooters to ever play the game.

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Draymond Green responds to Kevin Durant’s comment

Green and Durant have a lot of history together. The Warriors veteran was one of the first people to call and recruit Durant in the summer of 2016. They formed a good relationship on and off the court during their time together. Unfortunately, their spat on the court resulted in Durant’s exit but they made up eventually and are on friendly terms once again.

Kevin Durant and Draymond Green
Kevin Durant and Draymond Green (Image via Bleacher Report/X)

While Thompson fired back at Durant on Instagram, Green took a playful jab at the former MVP.

Slim thought he was on his burner?

Draymond Green on Threads

The 16-time All-Star was caught up in some off the court controversy last season after questions were raised regarding his alleged burner account. But Green did not hesitate from bringing up Durant’s past and rubbing it in a playful manner.

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