When Klay Thompson of the Mavs returned to the Bay Area, the Warriors celebrated…
San Francisco As Klay Thompson stood on the court at Chase Center and watched the video tribute the Golden State Warriors produced to him as he made his first appearance against his old team, his lower lip trembled a little. In order to keep himself from being overly upset, Stephen Curry, Thompson’s teammate for all 13 of his years in the Bay Area, set up shop in the tunnel by the home bench as the video was playing. The other member of Golden State’s four championship teams during this time, Draymond Green, had seen the film beforehand to avoid being overcome by emotion when it happened.
“I was prepared for it,” Thompson told ESPN following the Dallas Mavericks’ 120-117 loss to his former team in an exciting NBA Cup opener Tuesday night. “I didn’t want to cry,” Thompson said after the video, even though the crowd gave him a long standing ovation. He knew that wouldn’t have been possible if Curry gave a speech at midcourt, as was originally planned as part of the festivities to honor Thompson. For that reason, Thompson texted his “Splash Brother” the night before, when they decided to postpone the speech and simply let the fans show their gratitude.
As Thompson entered the arena nearly three hours before tipoff, he was already taken aback by the roughly 400 Warriors staff members who lined the hallway to greet him warmly. The staff members were dressed in the captain’s hats that were given away to fans as a tribute to the guard who famously boated across the Bay to home games. As he made the strange walk to the visitors’ locker room, he couldn’t help but smile broadly. As thousands of supporters watched from the stands, many sporting Thompson’s former No. 11 jersey and some carrying posters welcoming him back to the Bay Area, he was showered with gratitude during his pregame shooting session more than an hour before kickoff. On the other side, Curry went through his routine.
As the teams moved through the layup lines, the sold-out crowd screamed for Thompson, acknowledging all of his achievements during his time at Golden State and “the aura about him that connected our fans to him right away,” as Warriors coach Steve Kerr stated before to the game. Thompson remarked, “It was a really cool experience,” “I am really grateful to the fans. Because I love boating so much, the captain’s hat turned out to be a terrific touch. It was heartwarming to see so many familiar faces in the crowd. Seeing the supporters’ appreciation for me was very amazing, and I will always be grateful for that. Thus, it was just fantastic.
The game was anything from “another regular-season game in November,” as Thompson had stated when he talked about his return to the Bay Area following the Mavericks’ defeat in Denver on Sunday. Curry grinned and remarked, “I hope y’all didn’t believe him,” after his 37-point effort helped keep Thompson from winning on his comeback. It was a unique pregame ceremony. When Thompson played against Golden State for the first game, he called it “surreal.” His competitive exchanges with Curry were particularly amusing. That began right away when Thompson collected a pass on the left wing and posted up Curry after the Mavericks ran a play for him on the first possession of the game. Curry remarked, “I blacked out on that one,” “I refused to allow him to score.
