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The Golden State Warriors have been a mess this season, and you can really take your pick of one of the many reasons why this team, just two years removed from a championship, has struggled to find consistency. There's of course the ongoing suspension of Draymond Green for hitting Suns big man Jusuf Nurkic in the head. There's also the struggles of Andrew Wiggins, who is averaging a career-low 12.6 points this season. Chris Paul is putting up huge assist numbers per usual, but he too is experiencing career lows in points (9.0) and efficiency (41.6 FG%).

All of those issues are noteworthy, but one that is possibly even more concerning than those has been Klay Thompson struggling to find his shot. This is a guy who is considered amongst the greatest shooters in NBA history, has several historic playoff and regular-season performances to his name and was once considered a lockdown defender. But Thompson has been anything but those things this year. 

He's averaging 16.7 points, the lowest since his second year in the league, on career-low shooting splits of 42% from the field and 37.7% from deep. The 3-point shooting would be considered high for most players, but Thompson has only shot under 40% from long range one other time in his career, and that was when he returned from a two-year absence from injuries.

Thompson's production on offense is second only to Stephen Curry's in importance, and when he isn't seeing shots go in, that puts more on Curry's shoulders to do everything on that end of the floor. So it's safe to say it's been a rough year for one half of the Splash Brothers. And after Tuesday night's win against the Magic, in which Thompson had 15 points on an efficient 6-of-11 performance from the field, the All-Star guard opened up about a revealing conversation he had with head coach Steve Kerr prior to that game.

"Steve [Kerr] and I actually had a great conversation yesterday, and that helped me relax a lot," Thompson said. "Sometimes I forget just how successful, how lucky I've been to be a part of the championship teams, All-Star games and gold medals. You want to get back to that level so badly you can kind of get in your own way. And rather than forcing it, we had a conversation about just enjoying this last chapter of my career, how lucky I truly am to still be playing this game, doing it at a high level and being a better mentor for these young guys and leading by example and having my energy right every game."

"He helped me realize if I do have negative energy, how that effects the team in a poor manner," he added. "We had a great conversation, and that just helped me change my whole mindset and forget about shooting splits, points per game, or All-Star games. Just to enjoy being in this Warriors uniform, and appreciate what we've built because it's such a rare opportunity for any professional athlete to be part of so much success."

That's great insight from Kerr to give to Thompson, and refreshing transparency from Thompson to share with the media about the situation. There have been several times this season where if Thompson is having a poor game is body language isn't the best, and that can have an impact on a team, especially on a Warriors squad that has several young players trying to learn from veterans like Thompson, Curry and Green. 

What Kerr said to Thompson is very blunt and not an easy conversation to have with an athlete, especially someone as accomplished as he is. But from the sounds of it Thompson seems to have been very receptive to the conversation and he immediately went out and had his most efficient game since before Christmas. The Warriors will hope Thompson can continue to build off that performance, because with the Warriors sitting at 16-17, and with there being no clear idea of when Green will rejoin the team, Golden State needs his production now more than ever.