It was time to move on.
Klay Thompson will forever be a Golden State Warriors legend — Captain Klay who was cruising around the cold waters of San Francisco Bay on his boat while becoming a four-time NBA champion, a two-time All-NBA player, and five-time All-Star who will be remembered as one of the great shooters the game has ever seen.
Thompson will be celebrated as such when his new team, the Mavericks return to the Chase Center and take on the red-hot Warriors Tuesday night (the opening NBA Cup game for both teams).
Thompson talked about how it was time, and moving on was good for him in a couple of interviews this week. Here’s what he said to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
“Honestly, it’s rejuvenated me and done something I needed bad just for my mental and my career,” Thompson said. “So, I really feel the love here, and I feel highly valued that I can do great things.”
That echoes what Thompson has said all along. As it became clear the Warriors were ready to move on from Thompson he chose not to stay in California and play with LeBron James on the team his father is a legend and broadcaster for, he wanted a total break and went to play with Luka Doncic in Dallas.
Thompson wanted to move on and has, something he told Marc Spears of ESPN’s Andscape.
“That chapter is over,” Thompson told Andscape after the Mavericks’ 122-120 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night. “I’m in the midst of trying to win here. There is no point in missing anything when we have such a great opportunity here to be great. There’s no point in looking back …
“I got to look forward. I got to try to give my best self here.”
Thompson is averaging 13.8 points a game in a very different, more off-ball role in Dallas, shooting 35.4% from 3 (counting stats that are down from a season ago). He’s worked hard on the defensive end and been generally solid, but he’s not the defender he once was.
Golden State has thrived — off to an 8-2 start with the third-best net rating in the league — filling the role Thompson used to play for the team with multiple guys. Buddy Hield came in and has thrived as a movement shooter. The maturing Brandin Podziemski plus Gary Payton II and Andrew Wiggins (sometimes) have stepped up and improved the Warriors defense. Golden State has moved on and looked like a contender.
Klay Thompson will get his first look at these Warriors and be motivated on Tuesday night.
Just don’t expect him to long for days gone by, he has moved on.
