Warriors' Klay Thompson vows to 'enjoy last chapter of career'

"Sometimes I forget how lucky I've been to be a part of championship teams, All-Star teams and gold medals," Thompson told reporters. "You want to get back to that level so badly, you can kind of get in your own way."

Thompson has been inconsistent this year, with his shooting numbers down across the board. He's averaging 16.7 points and shooting 42 percent from the field, significantly lower than his career averages of 19.6 points and 45.4 percent. Thompson has been up and down, going 11-for-16 with six three-pointers one game and shooting 1-for-11 a week later.

His aggravation has boiled over at times.

Back in December, Thompson yelled and threw towels after head coach Steve Kerr benched him in the third quarter. Last week, his shooting was so poor that he mistakenly thought he was being benched, sitting down on his own before realizing he was still in the game.

But Thompson has resolved to "enjoy this last chapter of [his] career." That means stopping the negative reactions and accepting his role to "be a better mentor" to the young players who are keeping the Warriors season alive, as he, Andrew Wiggins and Kevon Looney are all struggling — and Draymond Green remains suspended indefinitely.

It even sounds like Thompson has accepted that he may have to come off the bench, something he hasn't done since his rookie season of 2011-12.

"It's such a rare opportunity for any professional athlete to have so much success," Thompson concluded. "I want to pass that torch to the younger guys and keep this thing going."