SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson didn’t want any glitz or atmosphere.
of A warm welcome from approximately 400 Warriors employees I met him on the Dallas Mavericks team bus on Tuesday and cheered him on as he made his way to the familiar visitor’s locker room inside Chase Center. Inspired by his passion for boating, sailor caps were worn by everyone from Warriors owner Joe Lacob to the sold-out crowd of 18,064 who celebrated his great accomplishments. As Thompson said, Stephen Curry’s pregame speech was scrapped when the Splash Brothers exchanged text messages the night before and decided to excerpt it from the script.
Thompson’s message to his old team heading into the night of celebration was “less is more,” league officials said. But the Warriors went all out anyway, determined to honor his huge role in their dynasty’s rise in top-notch fashion. This reunion game, where the Warriors went to great lengths to honor 13 years of memories of each other, was supposed to be uncomfortably ironic.
Here, Golden State officials tried hard to show proper respect to his storied past, but were met with a lukewarm response, and a perceived disdain for his future was the main cause of this issue. It reminded me of something. bitter basketball divorce. Unless Lacob finds a way to put them both in a time machine and go back to two summers ago and commit to keeping the Warriors’ storied trio by giving Thompson the same four-year, $100 million contract as Draymond. . Green, then this wound should remain open.
Or so it seemed.
Curry’s late flurry ruined Thompson’s plans for a revenge game. In a very entertaining final few minutes, the Warriors won 120-117 after Curry obliterated the Mavs in video game fashion. Still, it was clear that healing was occurring between the two sides. And by the time Thompson took to the postgame podium, he made six threes en route to 22 points, but was certainly lamenting the missed three that went out with 89 seconds left, and he was filled with emotion. The tone he was setting behind the scenes was different. Better.
even deeper
Curry and the Warriors spoil Klay Thompson’s return to the Bay Area with a 120-117 victory
“It was a really great experience,” he said of the night. video tribute. “I’m so grateful to the fans. I’m a very passionate boater, so the captain’s hat turned out really nice. I saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. It was a heartwarming feeling. So it was really cool to see the fans have that appreciation for themselves and that’s something that doesn’t come naturally to me.
“It was a great moment to feel the energy from the fans, especially all the chatter I heard was positive. Because I was really enjoying it and just letting it all out on the floor.”
In particular, the pregame greeting by the employees was a special touch that, like Curry’s speech, some in Mr. Thompson’s circle had hoped would be removed from the program. However, as Thompson later said, the gesture had the desired effect.
“It was really amazing,” he said. “I am so grateful to all the employees for showing me such love. It was completely unexpected and definitely put a smile on my face. It is something I will never forget. is.”
Regardless of the context, Thompson’s willingness to share his warm feelings toward the Warriors organization suggests a thawing in the relationship, which makes sense considering all the history between the two. Beyond four titles and five All-Star appearances; During that time, we had countless fun times.there is a special bond between Clay and Bey, and if any friction remains, it cannot be properly preserved. Thompson believes he should have been treated the same as Green, and how his contract situation was handled, with the Warriors citing his lingering catastrophic injury as a reason to justify a more cautious approach. While there are certainly still disagreements over what happened, the loving post-game scene showed signs of true reconciliation, and it should only get better from here.
Thompson first hugged Warriors coach Steve Kerr, then Curry. Then there’s longtime Warriors trainer Rick Celebrini, Andrew Wiggins, Trayce Jackson-Davis, Moses Moody, various staffers, Green, fellow Bahamian, and his successor, Buddy Hield, of the Warriors. Assistants Chris DeMarco, Gary Payton II and assistant coach Bruce Frazier appeared. It’s unclear if Thompson had a relationship with Lacob, but we’ve reached a point in this post-Warriors story where that kind of subplot no longer really matters.
“The Warriors did a great job honoring him,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, a Bay Area native who attended the University of California and knows the passion of the local fans.
In other words, the Warriors’ mission was accomplished as they improved to an unexpected 9-2 record, with a win to boot.
Anyone who knows Thompson well knows that he likely didn’t get much sleep after this game. Curry’s 37-point performance overshadowed Thompson’s dynamic night, and No. 30 celebrated the victory as if it were during Team USA’s gold medal march rather than a mid-November NBA event. Thompson left the floor in gratitude, throwing his headband into the stands as he made his way through the tunnel, and was then greeted by a long line of fans.
Andre Iguodala, another Warriors legend and current executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, visited the Mavericks’ locker room before the game and returned to chat after the game. Kirk Lacob, the Warriors’ executive vice president of basketball operations, was also waiting to meet with him, as was Zaza Pachulia, a former Warriors big man who now bridges the gap between basketball and business.
For Thompson’s part, his mind inevitably turned to the next basketball challenge in front of him. His Mavericks are currently just 5-6, and this Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving-Thompson trio is still finding their way among the Western Conference-caliber teams looking to acquire him. His time with the Warriors had no bearing on the job at hand, so as the nostalgia wore off, he looked ahead.
“There were about four games this year that could have gone either way,” Thompson said. “This really hurt, we were up seven (points) with four minutes left. We’ll watch film and get better. But I’m really proud of this team to keep fighting. We’re still getting to know each other, but I keep telling our players that it’s better for us to go through something like this earlier in the season than in Game 60. We know we have a chance to be great. We just have to stay the course.”
Of course he would know. There is a past basketball career where his transcendent play sparked an annual assault on the NBA mountaintop. The Warriors cherish those days and want to make sure they’re never forgotten. And if Tuesday night was any indication, so will Thompson.
(Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
