Emotions will be running high when Klay Thompson returns to his home of 13 seasons when the Warriors face the Mavericks on Tuesday night at Chase Center.
“I’m not ready for this, man,” Curry said during his postgame interview after a win over OKC.
Then later in the locker room, he reflected on Klay’s homecoming some more.
“We’ve had homecomings before, but nothing like this,” Steph said. “The level of impact and the brand of Klay in the Bay area is something that – I don’t know if any word or way I explain it will do it justice. We obviously have a game to play so you want to make sure we’re locked in on that. But he deserves the celebration and the welcome thats he’s gonna get. …It will be great opportunity to reflect on all the memories that we had. I don’t wanna go too crazy, its not our memorial or like…still talking about basketball and life, but we want to enjoy the moment of him getting the celebration that he deserves and however it plays out I just hope he feels the love because he deserves it.
Steve Kerr shared similar sentiments to his star guard about what the night will mean.
“This will be as emotional as anything we’ve ever experienced, I think, in my time here,” Kerr told The Athletic. “I think it’ll be even more emotional than his return to play. Obviously now there’s a finality to it and appreciation for everything he did hanging the banners, helping get the arena built, just being so beloved by everybody.”
For Klay though, he doesn’t seem to want to rehash the past too much.
“It’ll be good to see people you grinded with obviously, but to me, it’s just another regular-season game in November,” he said in his postgame presser after Dallas’ 122-120 loss to Denver.
Klay also told Andscape: “That chapter is over. I’m in the midst of trying to win here. There is no point in missing anything when we have such a great opportunity here to be great. There’s no point in looking back …
“I got to look forward. I got to try to give my best self here.”
When asked if he has kept in touch with Steph and his fellow four-time NBA Dubs champion Draymond Green, Klay said, “I’m locked-in. Not really. I will see them when I see them. That’s it.”