SAN FRANCISCO — For now, Klay Thompson is choosing silence.
His return to the Bay Area for the first time as a member of the opposing organization is here, with his Dallas Mavericks set to play the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday at Chase Center. The Mavericks held a morning workout at the arena, but Thompson declined to speak to reporters until after the game against the franchise with which he won four NBA championships and became one of the greatest shooters ever.
When Thompson last spoke, after Dallas’ loss Sunday to Denver, he said facing the Warriors for the first time would be “just another regular-season game in November.”
If you believe that, well, the Golden Gate Bridge is for sale.
“We all try to downplay what we’re going into, especially playing against our former teams,” said Thompson’s Mavericks teammate Kyrie Irving, who knows a thing or two about reunion games. “But as competitors, we all feel it. It’s emotions that are high end, but it’s basketball at the end of the day. (There are) a lot of things that happen behind the scenes no one will ever know about but (Thompson) was still ultra, ultra successful here. And I just want it to be a warm reception for him and all of us.”
Thompson, 34, joined the Mavs on a three-year, $50 million contract as part of a six-team sign-and-trade deal over the summer after his relationship with the Warriors faded last season. After going through shooting drills this morning, he sat by himself on the sideline. Only he could say what he was reflecting or thinking about, and he chose not to speak.
Most of Thompson’s greatest Warrior memories happened across the Bay at Oracle Arena in Oakland, Calif., but Games 1, 2, and 5 of Thompson’s last title with the Warriors in 2022 happened at Chase Center.
Thompson made five All-Star appearances and six Finals trips with Golden State, missed two years due to devastating leg injuries that stemmed from a torn Achilles during the 2019 Finals and was a pillar of the Warriors’ dynasty with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green.
Thompson still averaged 17.9 points on 38.7 percent shooting from 3-point range last season but he fell out of the starting lineup and was not on the floor in crucial moments at the end of games as the year wore on, which led him to choose free agency over negotiating a new deal with Golden State.
Thompson is averaging 13.8 points and shooting 35.4 percent from 3-point range in 10 games — all starts — alongside Irving and perennial MVP candidate Luka Dončić this season.
“I want him to be present as much as possible, to really receive the love, receive the flowers that he deserves,” said Irving, who has had his own emotional returns to Cleveland, Boston and Brooklyn and witnessed return games for LeBron James when they were opponents, then teammates in Cleveland.
“(Thompson) put in a lot of hard work here, a lot of sacrifice for this organization,” Irving continued. “So it’s only right that we just support him, show him a lot of love and get ready to compete with him on the court tonight.
“It’s going to be one of those games tonight, I can feel it.”
This story will be updated.
(Photo: Sam Hodde / Getty Images)
