Photo: Gabrielle Lurie / The Chronicle

Several times in recent years, Klay Thompson and Stephen Curry have stopped to thank the man responsible for creating their “Splash Brothers” nickname.

“I think both Steph and Klay understand that they wouldn’t be where they are without the other,” said Brian Witt, a Warriors employee who coined the term in a tweet five years ago. “This silly little nickname became one of the symbols of (Steph’s) and Klay’s rise to superstardom, of what they’ve done together.”

Last season, Curry and Thompson became the first two players to make at least 200 three-pointers in five consecutive years. Since the 2012-13 season, they have each scored at least 20 points in the same game 145 times — the most for any pair of NBA teammates in that span. Not coincidentally, the Warriors are 122-23 in those games.

Entering Thursday night’s game in Boston, Curry and Thompson are already in midseason form. Curry is receiving early MVP buzz. A catch-and-shoot maestro, Thompson is within striking distance of his preseason goal to join the ultra-exclusive 50-40-90 club (50 percent shooting from the field, 40 percent from three-point range and 90 percent from the foul line).

In a league rife with bloated egos, Curry and Thompson are self-aware enough to recognize that they need each other. They’re arguably the two best shooters in the world, but their differences in temperament and playing style make them ideal complements.

“There’s a special power, a force, that comes with great teammates who grow together over the years, whether it’s (Larry) Bird and (Kevin) McHale, (Magic) Johnson and (James) Worthy, or (Michael) Jordan and (Scottie) Pippen,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who won three championships with those Jordan-led Bulls teams of the 1990s. “I’ve watched that, experienced that as a player with certain teammates, and we’re seeing it now.”

On Dec. 21, 2012, Witt — then a digital-marketing coordinator for Golden State — was running the team’s Twitter account from his cramped San Francisco apartment when Curry and Thompson shot a combined 7-for-11 from three-point range in the first half in Charlotte. At halftime, along with the running mates’ stat lines, Witt tweeted: “#SplashBrothers” — a spin on the A’s “Bash Brothers” tandem of Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in the late-1980s and early-’90s.

Nine months earlier, the Warriors had sent guard Monta Ellis to the Bucks for center Andrew Bogut, clearing the way for Curry to dominate the ball and for Thompson to start. The front office came under heavy criticism for the move, and not just because Ellis was a fan favorite: Many wondered whether Golden State was wise to build around a point guard with a history of ankle injuries and a second-year shooting guard who mumbled through his postgame news conferences.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think ‘Splash Brothers’ would take on a life of its own and come to define them as a pairing for the rest of their careers,” Witt said.

Two months after Witt’s tweet, Curry hung 54 points on the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. He and Thompson finished the regular season with a combined 483 three-pointers — the most ever by an NBA duo at the time — before leading the Warriors to a first-round series upset of Denver. When the “NBA on TNT” panelists wore “Splash Brothers” T-shirts to break down Golden State’s Game 6 win over the Nuggets, Witt knew he had helped kick-start a phenomenon.

In the summer of 2014, after they were ousted by the Clippers in a seven-game first round, the Warriors reportedly rejected a trade offer from the Timberwolves for Kevin Love because they refused to include Thompson in the deal. Golden State’s front office realized that it had someone in Thompson who was the textbook sidekick for Curry, on the court and off.

Curry, with his dizzying dribbling displays, behind-the-back passes and 30-foot jumpers, is at his best with the ball in his hands. Meanwhile, Thompson is a jump-shooting metronome: plant, catch, release. A master at moving away from the ball, he darts around screens to create shots that wouldn’t otherwise be there.

To score 60 points in 29 minutes in a Dec. 5 rout of Indiana, Thompson needed only 88.4 seconds of possession, 52 touches, 33 shots and 11 dribbles. No player who averaged at least 20 points per game last season held the ball less or saw it less often, according to NBA.com.

He does all that while consistently guarding the opponent’s best perimeter scorer. Though a much-improved defender, Curry is free to tackle a less-daunting assignment and preserve energy for his offensive brilliance.

More important than any on-court trait is the pair’s genuine selflessness.

Although other three-time All-Stars might bristle at being the No. 3 option, Thompson hardly minds. He abhors media attention and often loses his train of thought during interviews. When he signed with sports agent Greg Lawrence last fall, Thompson explained that he’d rather hang out with his beloved English bulldog, Rocco, than shoot a promotional video.

“Klay just is who he is, and that’s what I love about him,” Curry said. “There’s nothing fake about him. What you see is what you get.”

When Thompson goes on one of his trademark scoring binges, Curry is his biggest cheerleader. Video of his bench celebration during Thompson’s 37-point quarter against Sacramento on Jan. 23, 2015, and 60-point outburst against the Pacers rippled through the blogosphere.

With the Warriors trailing Oklahoma City by eight points and their season on the line heading into the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference finals, Curry told Thompson during a team huddle: “This is your time.” Thompson scored 19 points on 5-for-6 three-point shooting in the quarter to force a Game 7.

“When the MVP has confidence in you, it means a lot,” Thompson said. “It gives you a sense of urgency to go out there and play your game and just have fun. It’s easy playing with Steph, because the air of confidence he has about him trickles down to everyone on this team.”

Because they’re in different phases of their lives — Curry is married with two young daughters; Thompson is a bachelor — the two don’t spend much time together away from the team. Their bond is rooted in mutual understanding.

Both sons of longtime NBA players, Curry and Thompson were lightly touted out of high school despite their famous fathers. That they blossomed into future Hall of Famers is a testament to their diligence.

Unlike many athletes who feel compelled to post photo evidence of their gym visits to Twitter or Instagram, Curry and Thompson keep their rigorous offseason workout regimens mostly to themselves. Now, after more than a half-dozen seasons together, they seldom need to look at each other to know where they want the ball.

“I think it’s one of those relationships where, even though you may not do stuff in your free time with that person, you’re right back to where you left off whenever you see each other,” assistant coach Bruce Fraser said. “Once they’re together, they’re connected.”

In May 2016, hours after a 28-point loss to the Thunder in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals, Curry spent the five-minute bus ride from an Oklahoma City steak house to Golden State’s hotel peppering Witt with questions about the “Splash Brothers” nickname. Curry’s eyes wide with excitement, Witt realized why that two-word phrase means so much to the two-time NBA MVP.

“I think he wanted to know everything that went into that nickname because look at Steph’s career,” Witt said. “For a while there, by no means was it certain that he was going to become a big-time player. He knows that Klay was big for him.”

Connor Letourneau is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: cletourneau@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Con_Chron