The initial game between the Golden State Warriors and Klay Thompson is bound to be an emotional one.
However, Thompson found himself laughing uncontrollably rather than feeling sad when a viral meme depicted his first matchup against the Warriors as a dance-off from the movie “You Got Served.” He exclaimed, “I’m crying!”
While Thompson is already joking about leaving the Warriors, his former teammate Stephen Curry still finds it hard to accept.
“Not having Klay, man, it still hasn’t really sunk in,” Curry shared in a July 7 interview with Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill. “Just because you’ve been doing it for 13 years together.”
Klay Thompson Felt Disrespected
Thompson joined the Dallas Mavericks through a sign-and-trade facilitated by the Warriors to secure more than the midlevel exception. Despite this, the three-year, $50 million contract he signed with the Mavericks, as reported by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, was less in annual average salary compared to the Warriors’ previous offer last offseason, which he turned down.
Contract negotiations last season strained Thompson’s relationship with the Warriors, culminating in a difficult final season with the team.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, Thompson felt disrespected by the Warriors’ offer, which was significantly lower than what Draymond Green received.
“Thompson was offered a two-year extension in the $50 million range by the Warriors before last season but passed on that pitch and is said to have come away from the offer feeling disrespected mere months after Green was re-signed to a four-year, $100 million pact,” Stein wrote in his Substack newsletter on June 29.
Joe Lacob: We’ll Have to Kick His Ass
Warriors owner Joe Lacob, although emotional about Thompson’s departure, tried to lighten the mood when discussing it on “The Athletic NBA Show” on July 17.
“I don’t care what people think happened, or didn’t happen,” Lacob said. “He will always be welcome in my life. I hope he feels the same. Honestly, I get a little teary-eyed about it. I hope we’re going to be friends forever. And he’s just going to be in Dallas for a few years and we’ll have to kick his ass. But that’s just the job. And I’m sure he feels the same way. That’s called competition.”
Thompson’s departure marked the end of an era that shaped the last decade of the NBA. Alongside Stephen Curry and Green, Thompson was integral to the Warriors dynasty that secured four NBA championships.
“Bob Myers used to say this all the time. He’d say, it never ends well,” Lacob remarked. “It’s just unfortunate business. It’s just the way it is and things get in the way and circumstances prevail. And so it’s a very difficult process — his injury, the coming back from the injury, which he didn’t play for two and a half of the five-year contract and finally came back and really worked hard to get there. All I can tell you is we love him. We’re going to build a statue for this guy without question obviously when they’re all retired.”
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