In the end, Klay Thompson wanted to be in control again. It’s hard to blame him. He’d been forced to play defense for the past five years, recovering from significant injuries, adjusting to a repaired body and a revamped team, dealing with regression, drama and uncertainty.
He had gone from a star often hailed by Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr as “maintenance-free” to an anxious, confused veteran in need of constant reassurance. As he struggled to recapture his greatness — or, better yet, find peace with a renewed identity — he longed for one more Warriors commitment, something he felt he deserved after 13 seasons, five All-Star appearances and four championships. He wanted a fourth contract from the team that selected him 11th overall in the 2011 Draft, a chance to live out the evaporating years of a dynasty with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. But as much as Thompson, Curry, Green and Kerr hoped his career might end on the court, business cut short their dream.
Thompson is gone, headed to Dallas to wear a different NBA uniform for the first time. After two awkward years of lukewarm negotiations with the Warriors, he took over in free agency and concluded a period of misunderstandings and hurt feelings by walking away. To cap off an era of good shooting and better vibes, the unmaintained former star closed the door on one of the greatest and most original teams in NBA history.
The Splash Brothers duo is no more. The last vestiges of the league’s superteam era are gone. That period, in fact, gave way to parity during Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, when Thompson tore the ACL in his left knee one game after Kevin Durant tore his right Achilles. The NBA, which hasn’t crowned a repeat champion since the Warriors swept the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018, is very different now. With a new collective bargaining agreement targeting big-spending teams more vigorously than ever, it’s legislated to stay that way.
Five years ago, it would have been foolish to predict Thompson’s tenure would end this way. Two years ago, when Golden State claimed the fourth title of its dynasty, it looked like he had overcome the surgeries on his left knee and right Achilles that cost him two premier seasons. Just a year ago, he led the NBA with 301 3-pointers.
But despite the ambitions and big words of Golden State majority owner Joe Lacob, financial prudence hampered the Warriors’ ability to remain as we know them. Management moved slowly with Thompson’s extension, trying to sequence each contract in a sensible way. Given the onerous restrictions of the NBA’s new tax system, which adds layers of complications for teams with high payrolls trying to improve, it was impossible for the Warriors to reward every deserving player. Someone was bound to take offense amid the delicate process. Surprisingly, it ended up being Thompson, one of the greatest complementary stars the league has ever known.
Ego and a sense of entitlement took over the Warriors, who had established a kind of regenerative excellence over the past decade. Their joyful nature, once a defining characteristic, was fractured when Green punched Jordan Poole before the 2022-23 season. Since then, they’ve gone 90-74 with a second-round exit and a loss in the play-in tournament. Poole, who signed a four-year, $140 million contract before the Green incident, had an understandably poor final season in Golden State. He was traded to the Washington Wizards last offseason. Andrew Wiggins, who signed a $109 million contract extension after the title, hasn’t been the same and is now on the transfer list. Despite many acts of disruptive behavior, the Warriors rewarded Green with a $100 million extension a year ago.
Once a benchmark in team building, the Warriors have struggled with asset management, talent evaluation and player development. They maintained a high standard for longer than most in professional sports, but each mistake began to add up. They paid an estimated $177 million in luxury tax penalties last season. Add to that their payroll and the team cost about $384 million. The Warriors went 46-36.
Thompson, already frustrated with having to wait in line, posted the most disappointing season of his career. Still, he averaged 17.9 points and shot 38.7 percent on 3-pointers. Those are good numbers for a 34-year-old role player, but Thompson would never feel comfortable with that label, not in Golden State. He’s a core member of an all-time team. His No. 11 jersey will hang in the rafters. He might even be worthy of a statue. He couldn’t accept a diminished reputation, especially without his value being recognized with another big contract. So, wary of paying Thompson too much, the Warriors wanted to understand their market before putting an offer on the table that both sides could accept.
Thompson needed assurances. He needed to feel valued again after all the physical and mental toll he endured. The Warriors probably wanted some credit for giving him a $190 million contract weeks after he tore his ACL in 2019. In the two and a half seasons Thompson missed, the franchise paid him about $85 million for his rehabilitation. But in their lack of communication, both sides did not afford to be understanding. When free agency began, Thompson wanted to choose, not compromise. That made the Mavericks, a team on the rise that was looking at him with fresh eyes, an attractive suitor.
I always thought Green would be the key member to go. But when he backed the franchise into a corner with his anger and stupidity, Golden State stuck with him, in part because the Warriors’ small frontcourt would be in disastrous shape without his defense, physicality and playmaking ability. In a sense, Thompson is the latest victim of the franchise’s commitment to Green.
On the other hand, Green was willing to negotiate the way the Warriors do. For all his shortcomings, he never seemed overly sensitive to business. And when he makes mistakes (including a suspension that cost him 12 games after an incident with Jusuf Nurkic in December), he’s good at clearing the air. During his most trying moments, Thompson has been introspective.
Acceptance is a big part of longevity. Thompson still can’t come to terms with what age and decline have done to his body. We’ve forgotten how good he was. He hasn’t. How could he? In his mind, he’s still the guy who scored 30 points in three quarters of Game 6 of the 2019 Finals. He’s still the guy who averaged 26 points while shooting 54.1 percent overall and 58.5 percent on 3-pointers in that series. He was at the top of his game, and then his knee buckled after a dunk attempt against the Toronto Raptors. It would be 941 days and another devastating injury until he played again.
He was robbed. It’s sad. It’s also the cruel and cyclical nature of sport, which has little tolerance for fairy tales.
So the best run of Thompson’s basketball life is over. It may have been a miscalculation by the Warriors. Or it may have turned out to be necessary salary-cap management. But Thompson at least had the final decision. It had to be his to make. He has a chance to start over, if he can find the strength to do so.
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