Klay Thompson is one of the most down-to-earth NBA players right now. He’s not the typical superstar who lives a luxurious life and thinks he’s too cool to be around the rest of the world. The shooting guard is a very nice guy who has made a lot of money during his career but still wants to hang out with regular people and do normal stuff on a daily basis.
After suffering two serious injuries, Klay confirmed that, spending a lot of time on his boat, navigating through the Bay area, chatting with people, and spreading positiveness whenever he went live on Instagram.
Some could say Klay is how he is because of his season-ending injuries, but that’s far from reality. Thompson has always had that free spirit and different personality than the rest of the players. One of his former teammates saw that firsthand even when they weren’t playing together.
Andrew Bogut recently talked with Tim Kawakami of The Athletic, recalling one of the best stories about Klay’s humbleness. During the 2016 Summer Olympics, the center ran into the guard at the Olympic village, and Klay made the most off of it.
“I still remember in the 2016 Olympics, we’re all staying in the village,” Bogut said. “The USA (men’s basketball team), as you know, they’re too big-time for the village. They have them on a cruise liner or whatever they stay at. But we get back from practice one day, like middle of the tournament, got off the bus and in the village we’re walking to our residences. And I see Klay. As I’m on the bus I see Klay just walking around, Team USA gear, headphones on, just walking by himself.
“So I jump off the bus, I’m like, ‘Klay, what are you doing, man?’ Say hello to him. He goes, ‘Yeah, I just wanted to come see the village.’ He just came by himself, no security, no other players with him. Then he’s like, ‘Where are you going?’ I said, ‘I’m just going back to the Australian quarters.’ And he’s, ‘Can I come with you?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, no worries.’
“And he came with us, hung out with a few of our players, because he knows Aron Baynes and Brock Motum. Came and said hello to them. And then fast-forward two or three hours later, I thought he’d left. I walked downstairs to go to dinner or whatever and he’s downstairs playing ping-pong with, like, someone from the athletics team on the Australian national team, you know?”
This story shows how nonchalant Klay actually is. He just wants to have a good time without making a lot of noise. Sure, he can go to the club and have some fun there, but that’s not something you’ll see him doing every weekend.
As of right now, he’s focused on getting back to the court with the Warriors, trying to win another championship alongside Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and co. Videos show Klay is in great shape now. If he returns as Kevin Durant did, the Dubs will have a big chance to repeat old glories and dominate the league once again.
