When you were younger, you were an idiot.
Donāt worry; itās fine. We all were.
Chances are, youāre aware of your past idiocy. Youāve accepted the lack of perspective that formed your earlier beliefs wasnātĀ really your fault. You get older, your thoughts get more complex, you see things differently, and you realize that most of what you thought was ridiculous.
Though, if youāre not aware of your own previous idiocy, I have bad news: You might still be young (which is fine) or you might still be anĀ idiot (which is less fine).
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And thatās how Iād like to start my analysis of the things Klay Thompsonās 60-point game made me remember about Monta Ellisāwho guarded (in the loosest possible sense of the term) Thompson and once, when I was younger, represented so much of what IĀ and a great many other idiotsĀ thought was good about basketball.
AĀ 2005 second-round pick of out of Lanier high school in Jackson, Mississippi, Ellis was anĀ immediately unusual figureĀ if only because he was nothing like the project big man or NBA-bodied superwing typically bypassing college in those days.
He was lithe and soft-spoken and painfully shy.
But sweet fancy Moses, could heĀ run.
The startling athleticism was obvious right away. In his early days, Ellis, would accelerate past sprinting teammates and opponentsĀ with the ball. He would slither around the court and, with the tiniest openings, uncoil and explode.
It was Iversonian, minus the wingspan and handle.
In those very early days, Ellis even showed defensive promise. Though unimaginable now, a dozen years into his career, there was once a hungry hustle on both ends that, at the time, hinted atĀ a dominant on-ball point guard defender. Ellisā size wouldnāt have allowed for more than that, but hey, it was something.
Warriors fans (like me, idiots all) adored him as he played a bit role duringĀ Baron Davisā renaissance, and they loved him even more when Golden State became his team.
Never mind that the Warriors were consistently awful with Ellis leading the way, or that he abandoned defense upon establishing himself as a top scoring option, or that his 3-point shot never developed, or that he hamstrung the franchise with a moped accident that resulted in an ugly suspension, or that he wound up impeding Stephen Curryās progress, or thatā¦well, or theĀ 1,000 other things, in hindsight, that revealed Ellis to be an aesthetically appealing but ultimately damaging player.
This is where idiocy comes back in.
Because for Warriors fans whoād never really known successāa generation grew up barely remembering the modest victories of Run TMC and experiencing nothing but heartbreak from Chris Webberās ill-fated rookie cameo in 1992-93 untilĀ Ellisā eventual trade in the middle of 2011-12āthis was as good as it got.
The devotion to an inefficient, one-way talent was, in hindsight, shocking. It was an egregious kind of āany port in a stormā groupthink. Many defected from Ellisā side toward the end, mostly as Curryās contrasting game suggested there were more worthwhile things to cling to. But Ellis retained an overwhelmingly supportive majority right up to and beyond the moment he was traded.
Remember this?
That happened because Warriors fans believed moving EllisĀ for Andrew Bogut, which ushered in the Curry-Thompson backcourt and put the franchiseās focus on defense for the first time in decades, was a mistake.
Remember: idiocy. Excusable idiocy, sure, because Warriors fans didnāt know what a quality big man looked like, and they definitely didnāt know howĀ efficient lead scoring options worked. But idiocy.
In a way, the foolishness of an immature fan base Ā is quaint. It doesnāt know any better. When you donāt win, and canāt even imagine what winning is supposed to resemble, the guy who performsĀ two or three breathtaking athletic feats and can score 30 points in a game isĀ your best guess.
And when that guy is also a pretty good embodiment of the all-offense-and-screw-everything-else ethos of the relatively successful Don Nelson years, heās as good as you can imagine it getting.
Thompsonās 60Ā points in 29 minutes is an odd springboard for a discussion of Ellisā flaws, a misguided fanbase and the embarrassing realizations of hindsight because it was a sterling individual effort filled with highlight moments. Those are the things Ellis onceĀ offered.
But those points werenāt just a dude going off like Ellis used to. They were efficient. They were facilitated by loads of assists in a functional system. They were met with jubilant teammate reactions. They were, as much as anything, the result of a franchise investing in the right players and prioritizing the right things.
They were what happens whenĀ an organizational culture and collective basketball intellect develops that, now, wouldnāt put a player like Ellis on the floor, let alone entrust him with leadership and alpha dog duties.
Monta Ellis was everything Warriors fans thought they wanted.
Thompson and the team whose formation began with Ellisā exit are more than those same fans could have ever imagined.