Warriors Twitter loved every minute of Kelly Oubre’s career-high scoring night.
It’s been a rough start to the 2020-21 NBA season for Kelly Oubre Jr.
After the Phoenix Suns dumped him to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Chris Paul trade, Oubre was understandably upset. He had helped build the “Valley Boyz” culture in Phoenix, and now he’d be wasting away on a rebuild in OKC. Then the Golden State Warriors traded for him, and it felt like he was getting a legitimate shot to play on a playoff team.
Unfortunately for Oubre, getting acclimated to his new surroundings (and an offensive system that hasn’t exactly been tailored to his strengths) has been quite a process. He missed almost every 3 under the sun in his first few games, and his numbers took a nosedive from the career year he had in Phoenix.
Fortunately, Oubre’s career-high 40 points on Thursday night provided a tantalizing glimpse of what he might be able to still achieve as a member of the Dubs.
Kelly Oubre was unstoppable against the Mavs, and Warriors Twitter loved it
Finishing his night with 40 points and 8 rebounds on 14-of-21 shooting, “Tsunami Papi” was sensational in the Warriors’ 147-116 thrashing of Dallas. Oubre also made seven of his 10 3-pointers, joining illustrious company in the process:
Kelly Oubre tonight:
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 5, 2021
40 PTS (career-high)
8 REB
14-21 FG
7-10 3P
He is the first player not named Steph or Klay to record 40+ points and 7+ threes in a win in Warriors franchise history. pic.twitter.com/bgokR93wBw
Kelly Oubre Jr. is the 5th Warriors player under Steve Kerr to score 40 points in a game, joining Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and D'Angelo Russell.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) February 5, 2021
The Warriors scored 35+ points in all 4 quarters of a game for the first time since Jan 8, 1991 against the Nuggets. pic.twitter.com/FXSj0cBEcS
His hot shooting night had his teammates fired up:
Kelly Oubre Jr.'s 7th triple gives him a career-high 40 and gets the @warriors bench up! pic.twitter.com/BxGi0M5goO
— NBA (@NBA) February 5, 2021
And he even had an incredible block on Boban Marjanovic:
https://twitter.com/Dubs408/status/1357525165735747585?s=20
The best reactions, however, came from Warriors Twitter, which had been starving for this kind of breakout performance.
Kelly Oubre big smirking in the mirror vibes rn smh
— Shohei Ohtani Stan Account (@AndyKHLiu) February 5, 2021
Im super happy for Kelly Oubre tonight man. Keep pushing.
— 500 🏎 (@Kameron_Hay) February 5, 2021
Some couldn’t help but clown the Mavs for their defensive effort against a guy who’s struggled for most of the season.
Kelly Oubre has a 40-piece. I am going to go lay down for one full hour.
— Kyle, a Madson (@KyleAMadson) February 5, 2021
If Kelly Oubre scores 40 on your team you should have to play the next month in the G League
— Jared Wade (@Jared_Wade) February 5, 2021
Mav letting Kelly Oubre Jr look like game 6 Klay tonight pic.twitter.com/i42hVFvQfJ
— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) February 5, 2021
Some Warriors fans couldn’t help but lament that he and Andrew Wiggins just can’t seem to get on the same page:
It is actually illegal for both Kelly Oubre and Andrew Wiggins to have good games at once.
— Shohei Ohtani Stan Account (@AndyKHLiu) February 5, 2021
Meanwhile, others tried to use his career-high scoring night as a reason for another team to swoop in with a trade offer, such as the New Orleans Pelicans, who had reportedly been linked to Oubre:
Okay, so maybe it wasn’t all glowing praise, but if Oubre’s big night is actually a breakthrough moment of confidence on his new team, it won’t be long before Warriors fans are rethinking some of those jokes.