Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson may no longer be teammates but they'll always be friends, as seen by the smiles on their faces when they bumped into each other during the Aces vs. Liberty WNBA game tonight. Curry's face changed when he realized Klay was there with new Mavs teammate Dereck Lively II, prompting the 2022 Finals MVP to say 'ew' and walk off laughing.
Curry was clearly joking when he said ew, having fun at the expense of his former teammate being in a new city amongst new teammates. The bond between Curry and Thompson is incredibly deep, with Klay having to request Steph to not force the Warriors to keep him on the franchise when he was testing free agency.
In 13 seasons as teammates, Curry and Klay won four tiles and established themselves as two of the greatest shooters in NBA history. But as they aged and Klay dealt with over two years on the sidelines after tearing his ACL and then Achilles, their backcourt duo stopped looking invincible.
The Warriors won a title the second Klay returned in the 2021-22 season, but have firmly fallen out of the top of the West over the last two seasons. Curry needs to find a way to deliver without Klay in the 2024-25 season, meanwhile, Klay will hope he's an efficient tertiary scorer on the Mavericks behind both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving .
Losing Klay Thompson Was Emotional For Steph Curry
The bond that Steph and Klay enjoyed was very strong, and Klay's departure wasn't caused by his relationship with either Curry or Draymond Green. Klay leaving Golden State is a basketball move, but his absence will take time to get used to for players like Steph .
"Not having Klay, man. It still hasn't really sunk in, just because you've been doing it for 13 years together. Coach made a joke, he's like, 'Sometimes you can't really find Klay in the offseasons and you don't really hear from him as much. And then he shows up at training camp ready to go.' I kind of have this idea that in October, he'll still be like, 'Hey guys, what's up?' But I know it's not happening. That'll sink in a little bit once training camp starts."
"Having Klay head on to Dallas, it's tough. It's something that I never imagined would be a reality, but you want him to be happy. You want him to be able to enjoy the game of basketball. It does suck losing Klay, and there's no two ways around it. You have to be able to celebrate what we accomplished but then be able to move on."
Klay left Golden State on a poor note, shooting 0-11 in the Warriors Play-In tournament loss to the Sacramento Kings. He also averaged career lows outside his rookie season with 17.9 points on 38.7% from three last season.
Hopefully, the offensive gravity of Luka and Kyrie help Klay get easier looks on offense as compared to being an out-of-his-prime co-star for Curry right now.
Related: Stephen Curry Refused To Listen To Klay Thompson's Request Of Not Intervening In Contract Negotiations
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