PHOTO: Cary Edmondson
For better or worse, sports have always been a unique space for strangers, friends, and rivals to come together and process some deep emotions.
Take it from me – a guy who once blurted out to friends while sitting on the floor of my girlfriend’s apartment after the Warriors lost Game 3 of the 2022 NBA Finals, “You know how people describe getting married or having children as the greatest moments of their lives? Well, I haven’t had those yet. But if the Warriors can somehow win three more games, that’s the type of emotional pinnacle…”
Everyone had the same reaction:
Dude, you might need some serious help.
Hyperbolic or not, that’s beside the point here.
Since then, I have been fortunate to land at KNBR, producing for and working alongside a true pro in John Dickinson. I have reshaped a lot of my traditional fandom and dedicated myself to creating a rational, informed, and (hopefully) entertaining product for Bay Area sports fans.
Yet, I’ll admit that right now, it’s hard to leave the emotion out of it.
When most of us woke up Monday morning, only three players in the NBA had been with one franchise since 2012: Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, and Klay Thompson. By noon, Thompson had agreed to a 3-year, $50 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks, officially marking the end of an era.
This is far from the first time a Bay Area first-ballot Hall of Famer will be sporting another uniform, but it doesn’t make it any less surreal with Klay in 2024. I could list off the most famous memories on the court, such as 60 points in 29 minutes, 14 threes in a game, 37 points in one quarter, the collection of Game 6 masterpieces and the 41 points in Oklahoma City that changed the course of the league. And, of course, the massive part Thompson played in that unlikely fourth championship two years ago.
I can even throw in some of the lesser discussed but still equally remarkable moments, like what he managed in Game 5 at Toronto to stave off elimination in the NBA Finals, or how he took charge in the first leg of the 2016 playoffs when Curry was out healing a Grade 1 tear to his right MCL. But I’ll stop myself there, as you don’t need some guy with a keyboard in a lonely coffee shop making these lists for you.
As we begin saying our official goodbyes and nods of gratitude to Klay, these moments themselves aren’t what resonate most. Instead, it’s the memories those moments created, and the time stamps they placed on our individual lives and sports-loving journeys. It’s taking yourself back to where you were, the experiences you shared together or alone, and the high fives, hugs, and spotty FaceTime calls that ensued. It’s the remote controls you threw at inappropriate times, the sleep you lost that was undoubtedly worth it, and the fans you dragged into the scene along the way. It’s the dark times where basketball made life just a little bit more enjoyable, or the beautiful times where the Dubs were that cherry on top.
It’s often said about the other Splash Brother, Curry, that he changed the game of basketball. And he did, but not without Thompson reshaping it alongside him. In the ways Curry is described as the ultimate competitor, I’ll say the same about Klay. When Curry gets remembered for the clutch shots that led to four championships in the Bay, so will Klay. When Steph and Draymond have their statues outside of Chase Center to immortalize this past decade, a bronze figure wearing #11 will be right by their side.
This week, however, is for goodbyes, and Thompson is headed off to Dallas in pursuit of a fresh start and a fifth NBA championship. Bay Area sports fans will have time to work through their emotions. Come October, they’ll be able to enjoy what remains of Curry, Green, Steve Kerr, and possibly Kevon Looney as the lasting building blocks of this Warriors dynasty.
When the Dallas Mavericks come to Chase Center in the 2024-25 season for Thompson’s inevitable and highly anticipated return, it will be an uncanny and bittersweet event. But just like those in the 18,064 seats at Chase Center, and the millions of eyeballs that make up Dub Nation worldwide, by then I’ll be ready to take a moment to absorb, commemorate, and relive the resilient competitor informally referred to as a Splash Brother. Until then, it’s “Goodbye Klay Thompson” (in the voice of a 4-year-old Canon Curry), and let it fly in Dallas. Go give those fans just a glimpse of what changed the game, and the Bay Area, forever.