Look at him now.



About 12 years ago, Klay Thompson was playing AAU ball for the Double Pump Elite. He was on the second team, him and Paul George. They hadn’t made it to the program’s top team. Thompson could only aspire to be good enough one day.



That Double Pump Elite’s No. 1 team had some ballers with name recognition. Larry Drew II, who went on to play at North Carolina before transferring to UCLA. The Wear twins, David and Travis, big men brothers who also went the Tarheels-to-Bruins route. The star of that team? He also went to UCLA.



Jrue Holiday.



Tuesday, though, Thompson was on the top-tier team. He scored 14 points in the first quarter to set the tone. He took away the effectiveness of Pelicans guard Rajon Rondo, his assignment the last two games, after Rondo sliced up the Warriors with his penetration and passing in Game 3. On offense, Thompson was the cannon firing off loud bangs that jarred the Pelicans and spurred the...