Klay Thompson returned to a familiar place on Monday night but in a different jersey.
Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks were hoping to get a victory against his former team, the Golden State Warriors.
While the night was about Thompson, who signed with the Mavs in the offseason after playing 13 seasons with the Warriors, his “Splash Brother” Steph Curry stole the show as he scored a game-high 37 points, including Golden State’s final 12 points as the Warriors defeated the Mavs 120-117 at Chase Center in the opener of NBA Cup group play for both teams.
Thompson, who had 22 points and received many cheers from the fans, has been on the good side of Curry’s flurries, but this night, he was on the wrong side.
“Yeah, it hurts to be on the other side of one of his flurries,” Thompson said. “Guy got hot at the end and made some ridiculous shots. I know I’ve been on the other end, and it sucks. But like I said before, I think we play them three more times, so hopefully, we can learn from it and learn their tendencies a little better.”
As we walked into Chase Center, a large number of Warriors’ employees were wearing captain hats, which Thompson famously wore when the team won a championship in 2022.
“That was really cool,” he said. “And I’m very grateful for the employees to give me that kind of love. That was really cool. And I’m very grateful for that. Totally unexpected and definitely put a smile on my face and something I’ll never forget. So I mean, kudos to the organization for making that happen, and that was a really cool moment for myself.”
Thompson, who teamed with Curry and Draymond Green to win four titles with Golden State, also pulled off a Curry shimmy after he knocked down a three in the first half, which he said was unplanned.
“It was an impromptu thing,” Thompson said. “But when you’re feeling it, you do stuff instinctually, so I’ve done it before. I know Steph’s done it many times. So it was fun, little playful thing to do, and he was kind of surprised I did it, but it was a great shot, and I’ll probably still do it in the future.”
There was talk that Curry would address the fans after Thompson’s video tribute. However, according to Thompson the idea was nixed after Curry and Thompson spoke via text message.
It appeared Thompson was happy with everything that transpired on Tuesday, except for the result, which was a Warriors victory.
