Klay Thompson is preparing for his first season with the Mavericks by immersing himself in the team’s history and culture, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoop Journal. That experience continued Saturday at the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation Tennis Classic, where Thompson participated alongside franchise legends such as Nowitzki, Steve Nash and J.J. Barea.
“It’s a great opportunity to be a part of this and kind of get myself ingratiated into everything,” Thompson said. “I grew up watching Dirk and Steve, so I have great respect for those guys. I just wanted to get a feel for the city, and it’s fun to be out here. Tennis is a great sport. I’m just excited to play today and hopefully hit some good shots.”
At age 34, Thompson is beginning a new phase of his career after agreeing to a free agent deal with Dallas this summer and being acquired in a complex six-team trade. He won four titles with the Warriors and is counting on continuing that success with the Mavericks after their run to the NBA Finals last season.
According to Afseth, Thompson’s efforts to bond with his new teammates included a boat trip to Catalina Island.
“We had a great crossing; the water was beautiful that day, the sun was out, and it was awesome,” Thompson said. “We did a lot of fun things, whether it was diving off the boat, riding jet skis, or just swimming to shore. It was such a beautiful day, and I think those moments as teammates are the ones you cherish for life. Now it’s go time, so we don’t have as much leisurely time to do that, but I’ll cherish that memory forever. That’s the beauty of being a veteran—trying to show the younger guys another side of life that we don’t get to experience as much once the season starts. So that was really, really fun.”
“Go time” includes the start of training camp in a couple weeks, leading into a season where the Mavericks are expected to once again be title contenders. Thompson brings another element to the team as one of the top three-point shooters in NBA history, and he figures to get plenty of open looks playing alongside Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Even though Thompson’s game has declined somewhat due to age and a pair of serious injuries, he remains a prolific outside shooter that opposing defenses will have to account for. He averaged 17.9 PPG in 77 games for the Warriors last season while connecting at 43.2% from the field and 38.7% from three-point range.
To learn more about the Mavericks franchise, Thompson watched videos of the 2011 championship team that surprised the Heat in the Finals. He marveled at the chemistry that group displayed and hopes to emulate it this season.
“I’m excited; it’s a whole new chapter of my career that has the potential to be really special,” he said. “The team was so close last year—three wins away from a championship—so I know we have the ingredients for success. We just have to stay together and build week by week. I know we can do something special, and that’s why I’m here early, just to get a feel for the city and the lay of the land. And I’m having fun while doing it.”
Wish all athletes had this attitude.
Cool stuff.
As long as he doesn’t overthink it … I love Klay but the last few years, his shooting droughts would really bother him on the court. You could just see it via his body language. It was sometimes tough to watch but when he’s humming and contributing, he’s a joy to watch.
Seeing how Klay performs this season is one of the biggest stories, was the Warriors holding him back? Is he finally gonna accept a lesser role? Is his defense be better? How are the Mavs defense going to look?
Having Luka on the team will open up shots for him. The problem will be the defense for Mavs. Thompson and Luka are not the quickest players on the court.
@arc89 + Kyrie is another year older and 32, the Mavs about to be the slowest team in the league. Any player with a quicker first step than Luka and Klay (most of the league) gets easy layups galore vs them. Mavs are gunna score buckets, but defensively its just not there.
+1
He can be relied on less, but a big part of that is he still wants to be a main guy and not take on a smaller role. The whole reason he left GSW is getting a starting role back.
He has for a while shot good 3s and very bad 2s where he always trys to go iso Jordan step back and it never works. His inside the arc game is gone but he still forces it.
His defense is really slipping where if he tries to guard anyone not a big on the perimeter he is getting blown by and putting your defense in rotation. A big part of GSW bad defense this season was Klay either allowing easy driving lanes for buckets or a drive and kick for a wide wide open 3.
I love Klay, but he is far from a complete player at this point and is fighting really hard to still be the player he was mid prime pre injury.
I have a feeling this could go very badly since GSW fans were super patient with Klay but he is now the main offseason acquisition. If hes under performing and moody and getting boo’d by the home fans this could go south in a real hurry.
You nailed it Chap. I was going to add to your comment regarding Klay’s attitude after a few bad games. He could get down on himself in a hurry etc.., and then you mentioned it. Good post. I think it covers the situation very well.
Gary , I’m just happy that the guy I thought I agreed with about all things Warriors is back! (Here’s hoping Kyminga doesn’t come up again soon.)
If Mavs fans expect him to be an all star they will be disappointed. Press in Bay Area was soft on him so let’s see how Dallas media treats him.
arc89 , about the press being easy on Klay, yes, absolutely.
Something that out-of-town NBA reporters say: the Warriors beat writers have an uncommonly friendly relationship with the team, to the point of being homers, and, also, entirely avoiding the negative.
Imagine if this happened in Klay in New York or Philly.
Chap , superb post. You said:
> The whole reason he left GSW is getting a starting role back.
I agree, but wouldn’t you also say that Klay was pushed out the door, not just by a lack of an offer, but also by the obvious plan to elevate JK and Podz, and, even Moody?
I saw 3 individual interviews after the playoff loss and before Klay’s departure. Each of Lakob, Dunleavy, and Larry Harris said about the past season that the team would have won more games if it had given TJD, Kuminga and Moody more minutes. Dunkeavy and Harris both said that they would be better next season simply because of “addition by subtraction” — in other words, some existing players would be getting more minutes, and some less. IMO, Klay and Looney were the obvious losers, and maybe Wiggins and GP2.
It just felt to me the entire season that Klay knew he wasn’t part of the Warriors future.
Just wait until Klay starts struggling and hunting shots to justify leaving GS and his new contract.
Damn, it’s gonna be tough watching the warriors without Klay this season
tball , a lot of us suffered through that last season, and now we’re over it.
In retrospect, as a huge Klay fan, it would have been better for all parties if they could have traded him last summer. It was as an ugly final season, IMO, for both Klay and fans.
Klay’s career has been in free fall since the 2022 ring.
We have enough data to use some advanced stats about it too, for example Klay was an average 6.5 WS player for 7 seasons before his injury, and has been basically a 3.5 WS player since. Last year was a great chance for him to prove his speed was back, and he failed, and lost his rotation spot for a while because of it. He went from elite defensively to neutral/slight negative. His shooting is more inconsistent, he’s barely a difference maker like he used to be, he’s a serviceable 6th man SG, that’s it. Not sure that puts the Mavs ahead of Joker or OKC.
The data says with or without Thompson the warriors are a pretender. Yes Davey J curry is elite and Thompson is no longer in your favor. Heild, Melton, Anderson, please.
mavs are my favorites in the west next year
They lose 3 more games than last season by replacing Jones and defense with better outside shooting and poor defense.
I have Mavs finishing 6th, following OKC, Minnesota, Phoenix, Memphis, and New Orleans.
Yes Klay had a pretty good shooting year last year but of course we all saw the rest of his game, which wasn’t complete to begin with, sort of slip a little.
He’s probably a great fit for the Mavs because they can kick to him for the 3 so I hope his shot doesn’t betray him. But he is getting older.
I remember a while back running pickup with an older college guy who was once the man at the local D 1 school. They kept giving him the ball and he kept jacking it up but missing, yet no one was saying anything to him.
Now if course I would yell at the guy and tell him to quit jacking up his broke asz jumper, but I was younger then and didn’t say a word.
But neither did anyone else !! His reputation was carrying him that day but I wonder for how much longer? Sure sucks getting older and I’m sincerely hoping Klay can keep it together for a few more years so we can watch and enjoy his success.
Klay is hoping to get to West Finals. Then go from there. Mavs have a solid chance to win the West.
Al , what’s your take on OKC?