Klay Thompson’s historic career with the Warriors is over, but what prompted the four-time NBA champion to leave the Gulf and move to the Dallas Mavericks?
Draymond Green shared at Warriors media day why he believes Thompson sought a fresh start with a different team.
“I think he needed something new. All good things must come to an end,” the Golden State veteran told NBC Sports Bay Area’s Kerith Burke in the interview that debuted Thursday on the latest “Dubs Talk” podcast. “Unfortunately it ended sooner than any of us wanted.
“The reason he left, I think he needed a different challenge for himself. Sometimes, you need a change of scenery. Sometimes that thing can’t push you to be as great as you want to be. Clay has experienced such a high level of success. Here’s We can all feel worthy.”
Green and Thompson were teammates on the Warriors for 12 seasons, changing the sport of basketball forever while playing key roles in creating one of the NBA’s greatest dynasties.
Green faced a similar dilemma as Thompson in the summer of 2023, when the former NBA Defensive Player of the Year entered free agency. While Green eventually returned to Golden State on a four-year, $100 million contract, he considered walking away from the only NBA franchise he had ever known.
“A thousand percent, and I got really close to doing something else,” Green told Burke. “This is the business we’re in. When I was dealing with free agency, that was the idea. Do I need something new? How important is the legacy here to me?”
“To continue to build that and we want to continue that [is] The way I want to go out. But the truth is that in sports, the possibility of it ending up on your terms is very high. It doesn’t end on your terms in sports. We can only hope and pray that it will happen, but the reality is that it is more likely not to happen than to happen. There are many things that can go into the decision.”
Green and the new-look Warriors are hoping to make the most of his remaining years, with a strong preseason showing perhaps reflecting the potential impact Golden State’s offseason acquisitions will have on the court.
But one thing is certain. It will be a strange and unsettling feeling the first time the Warriors finish a regular-season game without Thompson wearing a Golden State jersey.
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