Klay Thompson will play his first-ever NBA game against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night and their head coach Steve Kerr believes he made the right decision to go to the Dallas Mavericks. Kerr spoke to The Athletic’s Anthony Slater about Thompson’s departure and stated he felt the guard needed to go elsewhere.
“There’s always stuff as a coach that, you know, you look back and you go, ‘Man, I wish I had done this or said that,'” Kerr said. “But there’s nothing that keeps me up at night. Everybody’s life and career arc is different. I think Klay made the right decision going to Dallas. Just seeing him the last couple of years, I think he needed a fresh start.”
NBA insider Ramona Shelburne had reported that Thompson was miserable in his final season with the Warriors. He wasn’t happy with how contract negotiations had gone down, with his role as well as play declining, and felt he wasn’t getting the same respect as Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. A fresh start was indeed needed.
Kerr did try to get Thompson to stay, though. They had breakfast together in Manhattan Beach in late June where he told the guard he wanted him back but also stated that he might come off the bench if he decided to extend his stay with the Warriors.
“At the end of the breakfast, he said, ‘You know, I think it’s time. I think I’m going to go to Dallas,'” Kerr said. “I understood. I completely understood. Sometimes a fresh start can be healthy. I think it was the right decision for him.”
Thompson made up his mind that day and dropped the curtain on his Warriors career. In his 13 seasons with the franchise that had drafted him with the 11th pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, he won four titles and made five All-Star teams.
Thompson then joined the Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million deal via a sign-and-trade. The 34-year-old, who is averaging 13.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 0.6 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game this season, appears to be in a much better place mentally now and will be keen to make a statement when the Mavericks take on the Warriors at Chase Center.
The Warriors will honor Thompson on the night by giving out captain’s hats to their fans. You’d also expect a video tribute, and he certainly deserves all of that.
There will also be a bit more on the line in this clash between the Warriors and the Mavericks. It’s the first NBA Cup game of the season for both teams and the contest will tip off at 10 PM ET.
Draymond Green Explained Why He Was Happy That Klay Thompson Left The Warriors
Kerr isn’t the only one to think that Thompson did the right thing by leaving. During an appearance on the Club 520 podcast, Draymond Green stated he was happy when Klay left the Warriors.
“I’m happy he’s gone because he wasn’t happy anymore. As a brother, I only want what’s best for you, not what’s best for me, not what’s best for this team,” Green said. “We spent so much time around each other and to see him unhappy the way I saw him unhappy last year… to see someone that does not have a single care in the world all of a sudden can’t shake nothing, that bothered me. It was time.”
I think everyone within the building probably felt it was time for Thompson to go. In an ideal world, the Warriors would have been the only NBA team he ever played for but the situation had just gotten too bad.
I do believe, though, that years down the line Thompson will regret his decision to leave. There have been plenty of cases of players feeling they should have handled a situation differently and stayed, and I see it being the same here.
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