SAN FRANCISCO — Right after speaking at the podium postgame, Klay Thompson walked across the bowels of Chase Center and into the Warriors’ home locker room, fully dressed in a blue blazer and khakis with his newest captain’s hat.
For 48 electric minutes in the Chase Center, Thompson was on the enemy side. The same sold-out crowd that showered him with appreciation during an emotional player introduction jeered him after airballs and when he’d turn it over. He competed against Steph Curry, with whom he created the best shooting backcourt in NBA history over the past decade, and ultimately came up short in a playoff-like atmosphere.
Thompson felt what it’s like to be on the wrong side of a clutch Curry flurry in the fourth quarter. Thompson’s a maniacal competitor, and losing “sucks,” he said.
But he still had brothers to check in with in the home locker room.
“I felt the love from the fans,” Thompson said. “It was a little weird at first, seeing Steph warm up. But that’s the nature of our business, change happens. It’s happened to plenty of great players who won championships together. But yeah, it was surreal. A night I’ll never forget.”
Anyone who watched the game won’t forget it for a long time. Thompson and Curry went back-and-forth, stealing each other’s signature celebrations and draining a combined 11 3-pointers. Curry stole the show at the end, hitting the night-night after rainbowing the game-sealing 3 and then screaming into the cameras.
The Warriors won, 120-117, and Thompson (22 points) got the hero’s welcome he deserved.
“Even from July when Klay decided to go to Dallas to us showing up for training camp and him not being here, it was kind of like a slow build to this night for everybody,” Curry said postgame. “Because it’s such a different look for us, Klay in a new uniform. Granted we won so I can say this: I couldn’t imagine it going any other way. We played well, the crowd got an amazing show, it went down to the wire. Can’t really draw it up any better.”
Thompson’s correct that players change teams historically, even after being part of a dynasty. Scottie Pippen left Chicago (as did Michael Jordan). Shaquille O’Neal left the Lakers after he and Kobe Bryant three-peated. Tony Parker finished his career in Charlotte. LeBron James, a dynasty unto himself, has changed teams three times.
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But nothing quite like Tuesday night has ever really happened. At least in the modern era, no player has left a dynastic trio only to return to play his former team with the other two pillars still playing at a high level like Curry and Draymond Green are.
“I don’t know if there’s another type of example like this,” Curry said.
As the tribute video played for Thompson pregame, every Warrior and Maverick player and coach craned their neck to watch. CDraymond Green screened the video beforehand as a mechanism to focus on the game and not the emotions of his brother returning. Steve Kerr got “a little misty eyed, for sure.”
Curry viewed it from the tunnel, where he had his own space to take in the moment.
“I knew I’d get real emotional if I was out there looking down and watching him,” Curry said. “So I tried to protect myself a little bit there. Then you didn’t know how long the standing ovation was going to go, because that’s the fans’ moment to acknowledge and celebrate him. I did look at him at that point. You could tell he was happy. Then he did his little shoulder shrug, like, ‘Let’s go.’ That was a really cool moment.”
As for Thompson? He reveled in the moment. He said he didn’t think too much about what the night was going to be ahead of time, keeping an open mind. The crowd’s standing ovation and cacophony of cheers didn’t bring him to tears, but it was overwhelming nonetheless.
“It was a really cool experience,” Thompson said. “I appreciate the fans very much. The captain’s hat ended up being a great touch because I’m such a passionate boater. Saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. That was a warm-hearted feeling. It was really cool to see the fans’ gratitude toward myself, something I’ll never take for granted. It was very, very awesome.”
Curry and Thompson decided to scrap the planned remarks from Curry via text messages Monday night, deciding that it wasn’t necessary. This was Thompson’s moment, and Curry didn’t need to remind anyone of that.
While Curry and Thompson warmed up pregame in opposite corners on the Chase Center court, Curry said he wasn’t sure if he should go say hi to his teammate of 13 years. “Like on the blacktop at recess or something like that,” Curry said. He didn’t want to lose his focus on preparing for the game.
“The first time I talked to him was right before the jump ball,” Curry said. “It was a weird balance all the way around, trying to handle all the emotions.”
After the pregame festivities, it was all about the game. Thompson took Curry into the post on the Mavericks’ first possession, at which Curry said he “blacked out.” The Splash Brothers traded 3s and celebrations, with Thompson trying out a shimmy both Curry and Green deemed “terrible.”
In the end, Curry put the Warriors over the top with a flawless 12-point, 4-for-4 fourth quarter. He screamed into the camera after his dagger 3-pointer over Dereck Lively, saying in part, “You better stay here.”
Well, Thompson is gone, enjoying a fresh start with the defending Western Conference champions. That doesn’t make Tuesday night’s homecoming normal.
“It’ll always be weird” Curry said. “There’s nothing that can cure that. You heard us talk for years about us all wanting to finish our careers playing for one organization. It obviously didn’t happen. But throughout this whole process, you want him to be happy, you want him to play basketball at the highest level for as long as he can. The change of scenery is great.
You know down the road, when it’s all said and done and we all come back for all the ceremonies and reveals and all that stuff, it’ll be more of an opportunity to truly reflect. But I think this game helped because you can understand what it feels like to really see him on a different team and come back to the place he called home for so long. I don’t know how it’ll play out when we play them (three) more times, but it’ll be a little more normal next time.”