Jason Kidd boldly drops blunt message on Klay Thompson's critics' heads

The Dallas Mavericks will face off against a struggling 13-19 Sacramento Kings team this evening, but the Mavericks will head into this contest with a beat-up roster once again, as Dallas will be missing Kyrie Irving, Luka Doncic, Naji Marshall, and potentially Dereck Lively II due to injuries and suspensions.

This Mavericks team has the makings of one of the best rosters in the NBA, as they've rarely gotten blown out this season and have made most of their games competitive despite whatever missing pieces they may have in their lineup on a given night. However, the Mavericks have struggled to all stay on the court together through the first 32 games this season, and we definitely haven't seen the true potential of Dallas' full roster yet.

Part of the reason that we haven't seen the full capabilities of Dallas' roster is mainly because of Doncic being out of the starting lineup so much recently, as that's hindered the spacing and amount of open catch-and-shoot 3-pointers that Dallas' role players are allotted. One player who is forced to play more of a shot creator role with Doncic out of the lineup has been Klay Thompson, and that's negatively affected the quality of looks Thompson has received, as he's much better utilized as a movement shooter and secondary playmaker.

Kidd thinks Thompson's championship pedigree overrides all

Thompson has still had a few solid performances with Doncic out of the lineup where he's converted more consistently when getting to the rim as well as his spots in the mid-range, but critics in the media haven't been forgiving when Thompson has had blunders from the field. After one of Dallas' recent victories over the LA Clippers where Doncic was out, Thompson stepped up for 16 points off 6-9 shooting from the field, and this led Mavs coach Jason Kidd to send a message to the media in regard to their criticism of Thompson.

"As much as we know, we have a lot of critics that know how to play the game at a high level," Kidd sarcastically said about Thompson's critics within the media after Dallas' December 21 victory over the Clippers. "He just goes out there and plays the right way and does what it takes for his team to win."

Kidd giving this sort of vote of confidence toward Thompson is crucial, as he's a key veteran on this Mavericks team and isn't the sort of player that Kidd should call out consistently in the media given his track record and championship pedigree. It's without a doubt that Thompson hasn't reached the pinnacle of his offensive game in this Mavericks offense, but he's played solid defensively and has shown sprinkles of being a true weapon from outside for Dallas, especially when the Mavericks have been close to fully healthy.

Thompson has stayed very healthy given his age this season, and his mobility on both sides of the ball has looked better than expected, so it's not completely out of bounds to think that he could shoot well above 40 percent from 3-point range and average 16-17 points per game once he's fully accentuated in Dallas' lineup on a more consistent basis.

With a depleted roster in this upcoming game against the Kings, Thompson will be one of Dallas' main ball handlers and shot creators with both Doncic and Irving out of the lineup, so his shooting will desperately be needed in this contest and it would be a great opportunity for him to get back on track after a 5-17 performance from the field against the Portland Trail Blazers last Saturday.

Thompson always makes all the right reads and is a great ball mover on offense, which points to the championship pedigree he has that Kidd used to shut up critics in that postgame media availability after the win against the Clippers, but he needs to do more on offense for Dallas if they championship aspirations.