Klay Thompson wanted a low-key Warriors homecoming, but warm embrace could help heal wounds

SAN FRANCISCO — Klay Thompson didn’t want any of the pomp and circumstance.

The warm welcome from 400 or so Warriors employees who met him at the Dallas Mavericks’ team bus Tuesday and cheered for him as he walked toward the visitors’ locker room inside this familiar Chase Center. The sailor caps that were inspired by his boating passion and worn by everyone, from Warriors owner Joe Lacob to the rest of the sellout crowd of 18,064 that made sure his incredible legacy was honored. The Stephen Curry pregame speech that was scrapped, as Thompson shared, when the Splash Brothers exchanged text messages the night before and decided to pull it from the script.

According to league sources, Thompson’s message to his old team heading into his night of celebration was that less was more. But the Warriors, who were determined to pay homage to the massive part he played in their dynastic run in first-class fashion, pulled out all the stops anyway. This reunion game, one in which the Warriors went to such great lengths to honor the 13 years of memories between them, was bound to be uncomfortably ironic.

Here you had Golden State officials trying so hard to show proper respect to his storied past, only to be met with a lukewarm response that served as a reminder that the perceived disrespect regarding his future was the primary cause of this bitter basketball divorce. Unless Lacob found a way to put the two of them in a time machine and travel back to two summers ago, then committed to keeping the Warriors’ celebrated trio together by giving Thompson the same four-year, $100 million deal that he gave to Draymond Green, then these wounds were bound to stay open.

Or so it seemed.

Curry’s late flurry ruined Thompson’s plans for a revenge game. The Warriors won 120-117 after Curry buried the Mavs in video game form during those wildly entertaining final minutes. Still, it was quite clear that healing had occurred between the two sides. And by the time Thompson took the postgame podium, having hit six 3s en route to 22 points but surely lamenting his missed 3 that rimmed out with 89 seconds left, the tone that he had set behind the scenes coming into this emotional affair had changed for the better.

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Curry, Warriors ruin Klay Thompson’s Bay Area return with 120-117 win

“It was a really cool experience,” he said of the evening that also included a video tribute. “I appreciate the fans very much. The captain’s hat ended up being a great touch, since I’m such a passionate boater. I saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd. That was a warm-hearted feeling. So it was really cool to see fans with gratitude towards myself, and it’s something I won’t take for granted. It’s very, very awesome.

“It was a cool moment to feel the energy from the fans, and especially, you know, all the chatter that I heard — it was all positive. (That) just means a lot to myself, because I really enjoyed my time here and … left it all out on the floor.”

The pregame greeting from the employees, specifically, was a special touch that some in Thompson’s circle had hoped — like the Curry speech — would be scratched from the program. Yet as Thompson shared afterward, the gesture had the desired effect.

“That was really cool,” he said. “I’m very grateful for the employees to give me that kind of love. Totally unexpected, and definitely put a smile on my face. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

No matter the context, Thompson’s willingness to share warm feelings about the Warriors organization signaled a thawing of the iciness in this relationship that is only right considering all the history between them. Beyond the four titles, five All-Star appearances and countless good times in between, there was a special bond between Klay and the Bay that can’t be properly preserved if the friction remains. And while the disagreement surely remains about how his contract situation was handled, with Thompson believing he should have received equal treatment to Green and the Warriors pointing to his devastating stretch of injuries as justification for their more measured approach, the affectionate postgame scene came with signs of genuine reconciliation that should only get better from here.

Thompson hugged Warriors coach Steve Kerr first, and was then embraced by Curry. Next came longtime Warriors trainer Rick Celebrini, then Andrew Wiggins, Trayce-Jackson Davis, Moses Moody, various staff members, Green, fellow Bahamian and his replacement, Buddy Hield, Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco, Gary Payton II, and assistant coach Bruce Fraser. It’s unclear if Thompson connected with Lacob, but it reaches a point in this post-Warriors saga where that sort of subplot doesn’t truly matter anymore.

“The Warriors did an incredible job of honoring him,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, a Bay Area native who attended Cal and knows the passion of these local fans well.

Warriors mission accomplished, in other words, with a win to boot as they improved to an unexpected 9-2 mark.

Anyone who knows Thompson well knows he likely didn’t sleep much after this one. Curry’s 37-point performance overshadowed Thompson’s dynamic night, with No. 30 celebrating the win as if he were still in a gold-medal march with Team USA rather than a mid-November NBA affair. Thompson left the floor with a sense of appreciation, tossing his headband into the stands on his way through the tunnel before being greeted by a long line of admirers.

Andre Iguodala, his fellow Warriors legend and current National Basketball Players Association executive director, visited the Mavericks locker room before the game and returned for a postgame chat as well. Warriors executive vice president of basketball operations Kirk Lacob waited to see him too, as did former Warriors big man and current liaison between basketball and business, Zaza Pachulia.

For Thompson’s part, his mind inevitably turned to the next basketball challenge ahead. His Mavericks are just 5-6 now, with this Luka Dončić–Kyrie Irving-Thompson trio still finding their way amid a parity-filled Western Conference that is up for grabs. As the nostalgia faded, with all those Warriors years irrelevant to the task at hand, he looked ahead.

“We’ve had like four games this year that could have gone either way,” Thompson said. “This one really stung, being up seven (points) with four minutes left. We’ll watch the film and get better. But I am really proud of how this team keeps fighting. We’re still getting to know each other, and I keep telling the guys, it’s better to go through this stuff early in the season versus Game 60. So I know we have a chance to be great. We’ve just got to stay the course.”

He would know, of course. There’s a past basketball life where his transcendent play sparked an annual charge to the NBA’s mountaintop. The Warriors cherish those days, and want to ensure they’re not forgotten. And if Tuesday night was any indication, Thompson does too.

(Photo: Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)