The Golden State Warriors may have fallen from grace the last few seasons, most notably last season after a 37-45 regular season finish and an elimination at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers in the Play-In tournament, but that doesn't mean that the way that the Warriors ran the NBA for the majority of the 2010s should be forgotten, nor should Klay Thompson's dominance be forgotten either. 

Since his departure from the Warriors in 2024 as part of a massive six-team sign-and-trader agreement, Thompson has had a rocky road as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. 

While he's had the benefit of health on his side for the most part in his two seasons with the Mavericks, playing in 69 or more games in both seasons, his production has steadily declined with him averaging a career-low 11.7 points per game during the 2025-26 season while playing his least minutes per game ever at just 21.7. 

Thompson has seen his role massively reduced, starting in just eight games for the Mavericks last season, and his general decline has put his legacy in doubt, a legacy he's fiercely defensive of.

That legacy was called into question by a recent Instagram post from the Swish List podcast, which posed the question of whether Thompson or Ray Allen, another notable three-point shooter, was a better player. 

Thompson clearly took offense to this question and commented on the post himself to make an argument. 

 "You do realize I was the second leading scorer on two championship teams without [Kevin Durant]? You want me to go to a bad team and put up empty stats, that's easy buddy," Thompson commented (via Bleacher Report). 

Thompson further defended his own all-time status by adding that he led the 2016 playoff in points scored, calling another a commenter a "casual" in a comment thread. 

His arguments do have merit when looking at his playoff success, but comparing him to Allen makes the competition closer than Thompson might think.

Looking at average stats, since Allen has benefit over 300 more games played than Thompson to boost his total numbers, Allen has the slight advantage in points and rebounds per game, though the difference between the two is small, and a larger advantage in assists and steals per game as well a slight edge in field goal percentage and free throw percentage.

Thompson has the advantage in three point percentage and blocks per game, as well as four championships to Allen's two and one All-Defensive team selection to none by Allen, which does speak to Thompson's versatility as a player, but the comparison between the two players is a legitimate one.

Even with his recent decline, Thompson has carved out a stellar career and will almost certainly be in the Hall of Fame himself one day, but as his activity on Instagram made clear, he's determined to advocate for his own respect while he's still playing and he's committed to making sure people remember just how productive he was back in the day.