Stephen A. would choose Klay Thompson over Kawhi Leonard or Kevin Durant | First Take | ESPN 

klay thompson is an extremely unselfish and respectable person, a great player, one of my top favorites. Any team with him is a lucky team.

I understand what SAS is saying. Every time the warriors are in the brink of elimination Klay is the one that bails them out. I know this because I’m a thunders fan.

Max: "Klay Thompson isn't even a choice, you're making up choices!" Stephen A: "That's just how I feel" Lmao

60 in 3 quarters & 37 in one quarter. Klay a underrated GOAT💯

About damn time klay getting his respect💯

Klay is an underrated asf. I would take him on my team any day. He is one of those players who just being in the team builds a great chemistry with others. He is down to earth, plays the game the right way, can defend multiple positions and if he gets on fire.... oh, boy. Buckets after buckets. I feel people perceive players like Steph or Klay in a wrong way just because they are the best shooters who can outshoot anybody on the basketball court, but if you look at the small details they both are doing much more to impact the games for Warriors.

Molly says the dumbest crap sometimes SMH “what about Kyrie??” 🤯

At first I thought Steven A was high, but this time I think he’s actually being kinda logical

I'd take Klay over Klaw for LAL and GSW. The other 28 I'm going Klaw. Klay is perfect for the way James likes to play.

I ain't gonna lie everytime klay Thompson takes a shot I always thinks it's going in more than anyone in the league , hate that dude , klay come play for the Knicks

Ill take KD the unguardable scoring machine over any player on my team

"Hand it over, we're gonna need your basketball card Stephen A." 💀

For the Lakers, I agree with Stephen A. The Lakers are loaded at the forward position. Klay would be a perfect fit, a true 3 and D player at the 2 is exactly the piece the Lakers are missing.

Stephen a smith is so right klay fits perfect with lbj

At least as efficient scorer as Durant? Come on! Durant is one of the greatest scorer's in NBA history, while Kawhi Leonard has averaged more than 20 points a game only twice in the seven years he played? Come on!

Molly is like the little kid in the middle of her parents arguing not knowing what's going on

Klay would fit perfect on a Lonzo and Lebron led team . Fantastic shooter, great defensive player, and can pass the ball fine. He’s what we want KCP to do

I LOVE how STEPHEN A. putting RESPECT on KLAY THOMPSON’S name #IMHEREFORTHIS #ITSALLFACTS

How is nobody talking bout the title “fist take”

Kwahi is my favorite player but i can't argue with a guy like Klay the damn dude can average 30 if he was the number 1 option while defending the opponents best player

Klay fits perfectly with the Lakers roster

If Klay Thompson went to LA with LeBron James he would average 30ppg.. in his sleep.... Now just think "basketball world" LeBron career assist average is 6 or 7 assist per game...& Klay Thompson is one of the greatest shooters in modern-day NBA history... and Steph Curry is the other one .... Klay Thompson put up 37 points in a quarter... js..if Klay Thompson with the went to the Los Angeles Lakers🤔

love the new set here First Take! Great job - the windows, the water.. is this in New York?

Klay is super underrated. He’s one of my favorite players easy

ESPN really wants to break up the Warriors 😂😂😂 not even talking about this season LOL

Klay is the best fit if ur talking about the lakers any other team would want kawhi

klay is the 2nd best shooter in NBA history!

Kawhi is as efficient as KD?!?! I want whatever Max is smoking

Klay fits in every system but I still think I would take KD

Stephen a is right u not only get klay but u stick a whole in the warriors to weaken them facts. Klay is a big peace defense and offense wise

So max is forgetting klay Thompson is a 3x champ 🤣🤣🤣

Molly: "I thought you were Stephen A Smith?" SAS: "I am" x3

People sleep on Klay Thompson. He is a 3D, I would say the best 3D as he is the most consistent. Second best shooter in the world and has a never say die attitude. Put him with LeBron, a guy who loves feeding shooters, that would be a problem. Klay would guard steph

Max Kellerman has over-hyped Kawhi to such an extreme point it's ridiculous. KD is one class above Kawhi

2:38😭😭max a damn savage

Klay is the best fit on the team easily that's not even up for debate fr

I think this the first time I seen one of Stephen a smiths “hot takes” make a lot of sense and was something a lot of ppl didn’t really think about.

For the love of Christ, why on earth does Max continuously disrespect KD saying Kawhi is better than him? Besides defensively he does nothing better than KD. He just started averaging 20pts per game 2 SEASONS AGO! what the hell man. In what world?

One aspect that hasn't been mentioned is Klay's durability and play style. He plays below the rim and his balance and fundamentals are phenomenal. There is real value in getting a franchise player who is unlikely get injured anytime soon. Too many questions about Kahwi's short term and long term health.

what is this new televisual format...pretty cool

You can make the argument Kawhi is better than KD (I don’t believe so personally) but you can make the argument. However, max implying Kawhi is just as good of a scorer as KD is the most ridiculous statement. KD is a matchup nightmare since he can shoot over defenders with ease, drives better than Kawhi, has better touch than Kawhi, and puts the ball in the basket at a more efficient rate He was consistently the leagues leading scorer before going to the warriors. The only reason why his average down is due to the obvious fact that he gets less shots. Max doesn’t know basketball and that’s not an insult since he is very knowledgeable in other areas such as boxing.

Klay is everything LeBron wished Kevin Love was. LeBron needs a SNIPER that can DEFEND Klay is perhaps the most efficient and consistent spot up shooter that's a great defender as well, Klay can also finish at the rim. People also forget how Klay just needs to exist to shape the other teams defense. When Klay is on the floor someone has to defend him or double team him, they can NEVER let Klay be open yet Klay is a silent ninja that runs to open space to receive the ball. Klay is a better 3 point SNIPER than Kawhi and KD Leborn doesn't really need a play maker so all that extra perks Kawhi has he can pass except the defense. KDs 2 point jump shot is unstoppable but Leborn needs to run the show on his team not KD doing everything that cancels him out.

SAS interrupts people all the time, guy needs to chill

Okay SAS I see you , homie said “sit back and take it” 1:50 lol

“Somebody has got to be smoking something”

I don’t think Klay Thompson likes Lebron and he also wants to retire a warrior according to his dad so idk.

max's face while SAS is talkin ....lmfao

I LOVE THE NEW SET ITS GOING TO LOOK DOPE IN THE WINTER TIME !

KD has crushed Kawhi everythinh he's faced the Spurs. He's not better than KD, in fact it's not even close

Literally the only thing Kawhi is better than KD at is defense, and that’s not by a huge margin since KD has improved defensively. KD shoots at a higher efg% and ts%, which is even more impressive because he scores more ppg than Kawhi. I don’t wanna hear about the system KD plays in because he did this in OKC too, especially in his mvp season where he averaged 32 ppg without Russ (Russ missed 36 games that year). Not to mention, Kawhi has played in a great system under arguably the G.O.A.T coach, so the system argument wouldn’t make much sense here. KD is the better scorer and it’s not even close. He’s also the better playmaker and gets more rebounds. You can hate him for his decision to join gsw, but he’s hands down better than Kawhi

Stephen is right Lebron will have the ball in his hands a lot of time together with lonzo/rondo and they are all great passers so if they see klay open Klay will punish you.Also Lakers dont have great shooters so Klay will make the difference Dont forget about his defense he is a great defender top 10 in the league right now in my opinion which will help LeBron and the lakers

Max: Don't forget Leonard was a former finals MVP... Any NBA fan: KD is the reigning back to back finals MVP...

Kawhi isn’t on the same planet of KD. Put bias aside, I don’t care if you’re mad he went to GS. He’s one of the best scorers the game has ever seen.

HAHA PEEP THE TITLE. FIST TAKE

Klay off the Warriors with LeBron would be very interesting to see against GSW. HIs defensive presence certainly is underrated on that team, and the guy scored 37 points in a quarter.

Molly “get that on camera”😂

Did this man just say kawhi Leonard is equally efficiently as KD on offense ?! Drug test max asap

I stopped watching after he said Kawhi is better than Kd

Both Steve and max look so young in this video I love it

I think Stephen A just wants to be different

So... when KD and Steph struggle in the playoffs, Klay Thompson doesn’t single handedly find ways to make plays and keep them in the game? 🤷‍♂️

Max keep trying to persuade people kawhi better than kd. Im sorry Max you're wrong.

New set?? I like..

i love the new set

Agree with Stephen a Smith on this

The only reason people are hating on KD is because he went to Golden State!!I love Kawhi!But Kawhi is not on the same level as KD PERIOD.KD-4 time Scoring Champ,remember KD led USA to a Gold medal in the World Championship's for the first time since 1994 he is a Olymipic Gold medalist 2012-2016 2× NBA champ 2×NBA Finals MVP hold the record for most consecutive games of 20 points in a row, 47 to be exact! people need to get over this Brother doing what was best 4 him!!He broke no LAW!!He was a Free Agent!!Golden State came to him!!Golden State needed him!!Because they couldn't match up with Lebron!!!I DON'T SEE OR HEAR!!Anyone Hating on Toronto for Lying to Demarr or BOSTON doing what they did to Isaiah Thomas!!!These Teams will do whatever they want to these Players!!I HEAR NOTHING!!But when player decides to do whats best for them!!You call them COWARDS!! DISRESPECT THEM!!The Point is KAWHI is not better than KD.SHALOM

New first take set lookin hella nice

Ah yes. My favorite show: 👊take

2:39 a new gif was created

I agree wholeheartedly LeBron and Kawhi could definitely compete with the warriors

THANK YOU.

New studio is fire

Lmfao max still thinks kawhi better then Durant lmfaoo

Klay over Kawhi for a LeBron team I see it... But over KD?? HELLLLLLL NAHHHHH... STAY OFF THE WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDD!!! To quote Max at 5:18 "These are the rantings of a lunatic"

Y’all spelled first wrong in the title 🤦🏿‍♂️

They really upgraded 🙌🏾

"Danny green could play instead of klay Thompson" dafuq did you just say max? DAFUQ DID YOU JUST SAY??? Dont even breathe Danny Greens name in the same sentence as Klay Thompson. How do people not see how good klay is? Hes the best defensive player on the warriors and one of the best in the entire league. Hes the second best shooter in basketball history. Hes the most unstoppable scorer in basketball when he gets into his psychotic klay zone. The combination of steph curry and klay Thompson is what makes the warriors offense unstoppable. Put ANY other three players next to them and that offense still cant be stopped. And the versatility of klay being able to guard whoever he needs to and being able to score massive amounts of points while barely ever touching the ball never making a stupid mistake almost never missing a free throw. Klay Thompson is the most underappreciated player in the league and absolutely core to the warriors as a whole

Klay Thompson and Lebron is a huge problem. I perfectly understand

3:56 max is like "i'm about to destroy this dude"

looking back now.... well done Max

If Kawhi is better than KD then he’s better than LeBron because your reasoning for Kawhi being better than KD can apply to being better than Bron too.

Are you crazy?? Kawhi is the best defensive player in the game...

In this day and age where 3 and D is a must, Klay takes it to another level. He can be a superstar on any other team, yet he chose just to be a star.

gotta say this is a solid take and is honestly a more likely scenario.

Max be so wrong it's dumbfounding. No way in hell KL better than KD!! FOH!

Okay I was about to tell SA to stay off the weeeeduh, but yeah Klay would be perfect for Bron

About time somebody gets it

Max is getting more aggressive, interrupting SA more and taking over the show in a slick way! LOL In his mind!

Tbh I think Thompson is a perfect fit next to anyone which is one of his best assets. plus he has the 3 ball to complement LeBron. But there is no question about who is the best player between the two.

If Kawhi is healthy like in 16-17, or somehow even better, I would want him to pair with LeBron on the Lakers. I kinda just want Durant to stay in GS and for Klay to stay as well just to go AT them and try to beat them. Having Durant join LeBron wouldn't feel "right", even though they would almost definitely win it all.

You can tell max’s argument is driven more to who’s better individually than understanding the question that Stephen A was asked, which was who would be a better fit with Lebron

Klay is not a primary (or even secondary) ball handler on a team, yet he gets you 20 points a night while defending very well against the best guard on any team. That is ridiculously rare. He can play with any star in the league because they’re pretty much all ball dominant.

Max what's wrong with you. Durant has proven himself....stop reacting with emotional responses

btw fun fact: kawhi leonard has a career average .18% higher 3p% in the playoffs than klay thompson, has had a higher 3p% than klay thompson in every single playoff year since 2013, and shot 45.5% from the 3 pt line vs klay thompson's 38.7% in the last playoffs that they both played (2017).

Anthony Davis watching be like:👁👄👁

Good debate

Yep. That's right. I am with Stephen A Smith. I am a Klay Thompson fan.

Kawhi is an overrated system player. We’ll see what he does without Gregg popovic

whats up with the left part of max's lip?

Max’s crazy person sign was actually pointing at molly. Makes more sense.