Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson shoots the basketball against Los Angeles Lakers forward Matt Ryan during the second quarter at Chase Center. (USA TODAY Sports)
Golden State Warriors’ impressive ball movement in recent seasons has been inspired by Spanish LaLiga side Barcelona’s “tiki-taka” brand of soccer, says shooting guard Klay Thompson.
The Warriors, who kicked off their NBA title defense with a 123-109 win against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, have been a dominant force under head coach Steve Kerr, winning four championships in the last eight years.
Thompson said that having a player open and keeping the ball moving are aspects they picked up from Barcelona.
“I give credit to Steve, he came in and he had a vision, just to keep that thing hot. He gave us the perfect example of FC Barcelona, they call it tiki-taka,” Thompson told TNT after the Lakers win.
“It’s just kick it to the open man and with us give it to the open man, keep it moving, and it just plays to me and Steph’s (Curry) strengths so much … it’s perfect.”
Tiki-taka, popularised by Pep Guardiola’s Barca team, consists of a series of short accurate passes to keep the ball moving without losing possession.
The style of play delivered huge success for Barcelona as Guardiola guided them to 14 titles between 2008 and 2012.
Curry also hailed Barca and Guardiola back in 2016, saying that players like their then talisman Lionel Messi served as an inspiration because “the things they do in every game, and their style of play is very similar to ours.”