Apr 17, 2024, 09:08 ET
After what was possibly his last game with the Warriors heading into free agency, Klay Thompson’s teammates and coach left no doubt that they want him back.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — While the escort of the Golden State Warriors, Klay Thompson, was heading to the bench with 2:13 left in the play-in game against the Sacramento Kings, his head hanging. He did a round of hugs with coaches and teammates before taking his seat. After he sounded the final buzzer, he took a moment before walking off the court to watch the celebrating Kings.
It was possibly Thompson’s last game with the Warriors.
Klay Thompson on the bench during the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ loss to the Kings in the NBA play-in. Cary Edmondson/USA TODAY Sports
The 118-94 loss to the Kings sent Golden State to its earliest offseason in three years. and sent to Thompson to unrestricted free agency.
“We need to Klay come back,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. “He still has some good years left in him. And I know I speak for everyone in the organization: we want him back… What Klay has meant to this franchise and as good as he continues to be, we desperately want him back.”
Thompson He didn’t speak after the game, but at shootaround seven hours before kickoff, he said it wasn’t hard to stop thinking about free agency as the season wound down.
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“That’s life,” he said. Thompson. “I’ve had so much success here that I’m not going to let whatever happens in the future make me angry about what I’ve been able to accomplish in a Warriors uniform. I don’t let that seep in at all.”
The season finale of Thompson left a lot to be desired, as he was held scoreless on 0-of-10 shooting, including 0-of-6 on three-pointers. It was only the fifth time in the career of Thompson who failed to score a point. It was his second time under Kerr, but the other was when he was ejected 1:43 into a Nov. 23 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Thompson He entered Tuesday’s play-in game after what he called “the best stretch of basketball of the year.” During the last four and a half weeks of the regular season, Thompson He was second on the team in scoring, averaging 21.2 points on 48.1% shooting from the field and 41.2% from three-point range.
The 77 games he played were his most since the 2018-19 season, before tearing his ACL and Achilles tendon.
Talks for a new agreement between Thompson and organization stagnated when the season began in the fall. They never really restarted during the season, but there wasn’t much concern about it as the Warriors navigated their ups and downs, Draymond Green’s suspensions, the death of assistant coach Dejan Milojevic and Thompson trying to get out of his personal depression.
But sources told ESPN that throughout the season, there was little assurance that there would undoubtedly be a resolution between the parties. That’s what bothered Thompsonmore than anything.
However, Green is still confident that a new agreement will be reached.
“[Klay] is going to make the best decision for him, the team has a decision to make and they will make the best decision for the team… I don’t think there is any scenario where Klay to leave and that is the best decision for this team and organization,” Green said. “[La organización] He has shown nothing but respect, loyalty, love and trust. I have no reason to think, oh man, they won’t do the right thing with Klay.
“I have no reason to think that our ownership group is not going to take care of us the way we have taken care of this organization.”
2024-04-17 13:08:00
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