Klay Thompson returns to cheers from nearly 400 Warriors staff

SAN FRANCISCO – Klay Thompson stepped off the team bus and was all smiles as he headed back to Chase Center on Tuesday night. was greeted with cheers by approximately 400 Warriors employees They lined up on their way to the Dallas locker room to show their love and appreciation for the former Golden State star.

Fans wore “Captain Klay” hats as the night celebrated, remembering Thompson’s 13 years with the team, two of which he spent injured, and the four championships he helped win there.

These white hats filled the Chase Center, where Thompson’s highlight reel was shown in a place where he is still loved and always will be. Stephen Curry ran over to Thompson, who now wears No. 31 alongside teammate Kyrie Irving at No. 11, and Andrew Wiggins gave his former teammate a quick hug before also hugging him.

Earlier, after a brief jump rope routine outside the Mavericks’ locker room, Thompson ran out of the tunnel and onto the court to thunderous applause from Warriors fans whose phones were clearly capturing the moment of Thompson’s comeback.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr said Curry considered addressing the crowd before tipoff, but spoke to Thompson and they both decided to focus on the game, but Kerr knew something would happen when they had to defend each other.

Who will the Warriors draft over Thompson?

“I’m not telling you,” Kerr said.

Curry fouled his former Splash Brother 15 seconds into the game, and Thompson scored the first two points of the contest on free throws. Thompson missed his first two field goal attempts before nailing a 3-pointer with 1:26 left in the first quarter.

“I think he’ll be the same guy I watched for 10 years, so he’s always aggressive,” Kerr said. “I’m sure he’s coming out firing and none of us would want anything different.”

The Warriors invited their entire staff to be part of the welcoming committee for Thompson, who joined Dallas in July on a three-year, $50 million contract. Thompson, 34, missed more than 2.5 years (the entire 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons) to recover from surgeries on his left knee and right Achilles tendon before making a comeback in January 2022.

“I think what he has overcome is almost unprecedented,” Kerr said. “… The last few years after he came back he had a hard time reconciling all of that, losing those good seasons. We’ve all seen it, we’ve all seen him struggle with it emotionally. We saw him struggle to get his game back. He helped us win the championship, he led the league in third place two years ago, he’s done a lot of great things.

“We wished it would last forever, that Klay would finish his career with us, but circumstances always demand those things. In the end, I think he made the right choice. I think he needed a fresh start, I think he needed some kind of renewal. A new environment was formed and it meant that he wasn’t happy and “That was hard to see because, deep down, she deserves to be happy.”

Thompson tried to downplay the significance of returning to the Bay Area, but it was certainly emotional for everyone involved.

“I’ve been doing this a long time and basketball is basketball,” he said.

But when the home fans went wild and took off their captain’s hats, Thompson became visibly emotional and clearly moved by the tribute. He waved and saluted in various directions.

Dallas coach Jason Kidd called the Mavericks “lucky to get him” and imagined how difficult it might have been for Thompson with so much emotion.

“He is a true professional. “When he comes to work, he understands what it takes to win,” Kidd said. “We can talk about his ability to shoot the ball, space and gravity. We can make him run and he’ll create space for others. So when we talk about the big picture, it’s hard to find and we didn’t have anything. It was needed so much.”

Golden State held a “Salute to Captain Klay” ceremony before tipoff to commemorate Thompson’s contributions to the franchise and his tradition of boating across the bay to games. He will be back again for the Mavs’ second visit to Chase Center in February.

“This is all personnel. It’s incredible,” said Warriors President and COO Brandon Schneider. “What Klay has meant to our organization and to all of us over the last 13 years, his team accomplishments, his individual accomplishments, who he is as a person, what he’s done in the community, this is a special night.”

For Kerr, this moment was a far cry from Thompson’s triumphant return nearly three years ago, a day marked by injuries and a frightening rehab grind that the veteran guard considered the toughest days of his life.

“It was a welcome, we knew we had a lot of good times ahead of us. Actually, there was a championship in six months,” Kerr said. “This is obviously more of a farewell, the first time we’ll see it. … It’s going to sound weird but it’s going to be a different atmosphere, “It will be more of a thank you and a farewell and everything you mean to us.”

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