In June 2018, after the Warriors’ third championship in four years, coach Steve Kerr sparkled when talking about Klay Thompson, saying, “He’s not low-maintenance. He’s no-maintenance.”
A year later, almost to the day, Thompson tore his ACL in the NBA Finals against the Raptors and that dynamic for Stephen Curry’s running mate would no longer ring true.
“The last three years, I know Draymond [Green] has punched people and got himself suspended on the court … but Klay has been equally exhausting behind the scenes,” San Francisco’s KRON4 News reporter Jason Dumas said on 95.7 The Game. “It’s not as loud. It’s not as loud because it’s not you stomping on someone’s chest. If he’s slamming stuff on the bench and sulking, and doing that on the court, how do you think it is in practice? How do you think it is in the Warriors’ locker room?
“It has been uncomfortable. It has. It just doesn’t come out as loudly as Draymond Green.”
Thompson was once a player who didn’t care about getting up as many shots as others on the team and was more than willing to defer when the team brought in Kevin Durant to be its new star.
Dumas’ report would point to that changing after Thomspon tore his ACL in 2019 and missed the 2019-20 season, as the Warriors retooled their team after losing Durant in free agency to the Nets.
While rehabbing from a torn ACL, he tore his Achilles and ultimately missed two-and-a-half seasons, returning Jan. 9, 2022, and helping the Warriors’ title run that year.
This report of Thompson’s actions being as equally exhausting as Green is a wild look behind the scenes of the star guard’s recent departure for the Mavericks in free agency.
For starters, Green has been suspended six times in his NBA career, including being sent away from the team for 25 games this past season.
Curry was driven to tears on the floor after Green got himself ejected from a March 27 game against the Magic.
Green was also suspended for Game 5 of the 2016 NBA Finals for an accumulation of technical fouls, the final being a groin shot at LeBron James, which helped Cleveland win the series.
Thompson’s situation, while different, must be difficult in its own way as the star guard has been a shell of himself particularly on the defensive end.
The star two-guard had been a major impact player defensively during the Warriors dynasty, tallying a 103.6 defensive rating during the Warriors’ 2014-15 title winning season.
The injuries seemingly got in the way of his lateral quickness, though, to the point that this past year he had a 117.8 defensive rating, in the same range as LaMelo Ball, Jordan Poole, Cam Thomas, Scoot Henderson and Cade Cunningham.
Thompson agreed to a three-year contract worth $50 million with the Mavericks during free agency, officially breaking up Golden State’s dynasty.
Curry bid adieu to Thompson in an emotional goodbye social media post.
“Even though we won’t finish the journey together, what we did will never be done again,” Curry wrote. “Couldn’t have imagined a better run with you and [center Draymond Green].
“Changed the way the game is played. Killa Klay at the center of it all. Thank you for everything bro. Go enjoy playing basketball and doing what you do.
“Splash Bros 4 life my guy.”
