Klay’s return against the Warriors could be the emotional ending he’s looking for originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Avoidance is a mask that everyone has worn.
Clay Thompson can call his return to Chase Center play the Warriors for the first time on Tuesday night “just another regular-season game in November.” He has the right to say, “basketball is basketball” and that “there’s no point missing anything” as he tries to focus on his new chapter in Dallas.
Thompson, 34, is doing his damned to stay in the momentsomething he begged reporters to do during and after his final season with the Warriors when he was clearly excited. In truth, his return will be deeply emotional, but for more than himself.
Fans rode the highs of Thompson’s countless memorable, and even historic, moments in his 13 years with the Warriors, and the lows of him missing two-plus of those seasons to leg injuries. His pairing with Steph Curry created an iconic nickname and the greatest backcourt in NBA history for over a decade. Add in Draymond Green, also drafted by the Warriors, and you have one of the best triples basketball will ever witness, with each having uniquely generational abilities.
Happiness, sadness, anger and pure joy. Steph, Klay and Draymond felt it all in their time together as teammates.
Coach Steve Kerr was the leader for all four championships they celebrated. Memories must be rushing through his head the first time he sees Thompson, while simultaneously plotting ways to make sure he doesn’t catch fire against his former team. But Kerr, now in his 11th season at the helm, isn’t even the longest-tenured Warriors coach on his staff.
Chris DeMarco was hired as the Warriors’ video coordinator the year after Thompson was drafted and rose through the ranks to become one of their most important assistant coaches, building a relationship that extended well beyond the court with Klay and his family. DeMarco is also the Bahamas national team coach, who has received extensive support from Klay and his father Mychal.
Klay’s younger brother, Mychel, played for the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz and spent the last few years on Golden State’s coaching staff. Mychel also played for DeMarco on the Bahamas national team and was added to their coaching staff ahead of their historic success over the last year.
Different jersey colors don’t end a league like that.
Among Warriors players and coaches, no one is more in tune with Thompson’s mind, spirit and soul than Bruce Fraser. The assistant coach joined the Warriors after Kerr arrived in 2014, and after earning his trust, Fraser’s love of the water created a kinship from a human standpoint that was key in Thompson’s comeback from crushing injuries.
Fraser knows that Thompson can come across as oblivious or even aloof. He also knows the philosophical side of him, which cares intensely and attentively.
“What I want to read is Klay’s book when he’s 60 years old,” Fraser told NBC Sports Bay Area. “That’s when you’ll really get to know Klay, once he’s ready to let go of his inner trappings and tell the world who he is.”
On the surface, Fraser expects Thompson to show stoicism. It’s part of who he is. That’s how he’s wired. It’s his genetic makeup.
Thompson’s heart will tell a different story than his facial expressions during the Warriors’ tribute video, watching 18,000-plus fans honor him and hearing Curry’s pregame speech at center court.
“This game will be deeply meaningful to him,” Fraser said. “You won’t see that on the surface, unless he makes four or five threes and pumps his fist, but this game is important to him.”
There will be hugs before speaking and laughter too. Thompson and the Warriors will likely try to keep their interactions short, knowing that every camera in sight is on them and that there is a game to be played. That part can’t be lost, and it’s certainly not on the Warriors.
They did all they can to praise Thompson and move himself. The last two years, especially Thompson’s final season in the Bay, have been rough waters for everyone to navigate. It wasn’t easy for Thompson, nor was it on those around him or those covering him.
Thompson made it clear that after not getting the contract offers he wanted from the Warriors in free agency and deciding on Dallas, signing with the Mavs gave him his best chance at winning a fifth ring. Curry and Green alike are on a mission to prove that their tank is far from empty and they still have the goods to do it. Brotherly love can quickly turn to competitiveness.
“He is close to many of us. I don’t know what the word is. I don’t think it’s a revenge game really, but I feel like there’s some angst there,” Fraser said. “You’ll see it if he makes a big shot, or several big shots in a row, you might see some emotion.”
Before retiring to the Chase Center floor or venturing around San Francisco, Thompson does everything in his power to ease tensions and lower expectations of what is. one of the greatest comebacks by an athlete in recent memory. He won’t speak at Mavs practice Monday or shootaround Tuesday morning.
Microphones will turn on and cameras will zoom after Thompson speaks Tuesday night, no matter the outcome of the game. There is more to what his face and his words suggest. The heart needs time to heal.
Moving on was Thompson’s first step. The process continues. A shutout could finally be in store for both sides 11 games into the season, the same number that will someday hang in the rafters with Thompson’s last name above it.
“Yeah, it was sad to lose him,” Fraser admits. “He was special to me. No one wanted to see him go. But in fairness to him, I think he needed a fresh start and he needed to find love in the game again and love in the process.
“I don’t know if he felt he could do that here anymore.”
Klay’s true feelings may never be told to the public, better served for the next trip to Baja he and Fraser are planning, straddling their surfboards and letting their souls drift where basketball is an afterthought.
