Klay Thompson returned to the Bay Space on Tuesday evening for the primary time since leaving the Golden State Warriors.
Thompson and the Mavericks arrived on the Chase Middle in San Francisco for his or her opening recreation within the NBA Cup on Tuesday, and Thompson rapidly obtained an enormous reception from followers each within the area and from these ready outdoors as he arrived.
The sport was dubbed “Salute Captain Klay” evening, and followers obtained a white captain’s hat with a Warriors emblem on it in honor of Thompson — who used to take a ship to video games when he performed for the Warriors. The staff performed a tribute video forward of the sport, too, and gave Thompson an enormous ovation on the court docket forward of the sport.
with the Mavericks this previous offseason. That formally ended his unimaginable run with the Warriors, which produced 4 championships over an eight-season span. The Warriors first chosen Thompson with the No. 11 general decide in 2011 out of Washington State, and he rapidly turned each a fan favourite within the Bay Space and a important a part of the Warriors’ dynasty alongside Stephen Curry and Draymond Inexperienced as different items got here and went.
Although he stated he nonetheless cherishes the run he went on at Golden State to kick off his profession within the league, Thompson is solely targeted on placing it behind him for now.
“That chapter is over,” Thompson advised on Sunday. “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 averaged 17.9 factors per recreation final season at Golden State, which was his worst output in additional than a decade. He shot worse than 40% from behind the arc for simply the second time in his profession, too. Thompson left the Warriors sixth in whole factors scored in staff historical past, fourth in video games performed and second to Stephen Curry in made 3-pointers. He additionally holds the NBA document with 14 made 3-pointers in a single recreation, which he set with the Warriors in 2018.
The 34-year-old entered Tuesday’s recreation averaging 13.8 factors and three.7 rebounds with 2.9 made 3-pointers per recreation up to now this season in Dallas. The Mavericks sit at 5-5.
Whereas gamers don’t all the time get a heat reception on their first few journeys again to their previous arenas, Thompson clearly continues to be in a very good place with the Warriors’ fan base.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr stated Sunday, . “I think we all are. It will be very emotional. I know our fans are geared up for it and can’t wait to see Klay.”
