NBA superstar Klay Thompson praises Kiwi Charlisse Leger-Walker

Charlisse Leger-Walker's skills have been talked about plenty this week already but now she's earning praise from some of the best in basketball - including NBA superstar Klay Thompson.

Leger-Walker led the Washington State Cougars to a PAC-12 title earlier this week, averaging 19 points per game as they took down US college basketball powerhouses Utah, Colorado and UCLA en route to the trophy.

The New Zealand native scored at least 15 points in all four of Washington State's wins and dropped 23 points against the Bruins in the finale to secure the trophy. Leger-Walker shot 7-for-11 from the field, sank five three-pointers and also grabbed seven rebounds in that game.

Her performances have garnered plenty of attention, including that of Golden State Warriors guard and Washington State alumni Thompson.

Thompson spoke to Leger-Walker and the Cougars women in a short social media video, telling them how proud he was like other fans.

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"To my lady Cougs, I just wanted to tell y'all congratulations on something that I could have never even dreamt of which is winning the whole thing," he said.

"You make every single Cougar around the world so incredibly proud of what y'all have done."

Thompson singled out Leger-Walker in the heartfelt video, saying one day he expects her name to be alongside his with one of US sport's highest honours - retiring her jersey number.

"Shout out to Charlisse for being the most outstanding player of the tournament," he said.

"Hopefully your jersey is in the rafters one day as well."

To date, only two numbers have been retired in Cougars basketball history; Thompson's No.1 and No.55 which belonged to Steve Puidokas, who left Washington State as both their all-time leading scorer with 1,894 points and all-time leading rebounder with 992 rebounds.

Thompson had his jersey retired in 2020 having gone on to win four NBA titles and earn five All Star selections.