![\"NBA](\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,w_5754,h_3236,x_0,y_293\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/ImagnImages\/mmsport\/inside_the_warriors\/01jchvmc7tyv9c3fwtm6.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
SAN FRANCISCO \u2014 Klay Thompson left the Warriors with a whimper.<\/p>\n
He returned to the Bay with a roar.<\/p>\n
Nothing less was expected. Nothing less would have been appropriate.<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s game was circled on the calendar the moment the schedule was released, and not because it was the first game of the NBA\u2019s in-season tournament. No, this was an opportunity for a grateful organization and adoring fan base to celebrate one of the greatest ever to wear \u201cGolden State\u201d\u00a0across their chest, to say thank you for four banners and countless memories.<\/p>\n
Jerry Seinfeld once joked that sports is little more than rooting for laundry. It\u2019s a good joke, but, obviously, sports are so much more than that.<\/p>\n
We all have a basic need for belonging, for community. It\u2019s built into our DNA. And sports can fulfill that need.<\/p>\n
Countries and even families can be divided, but we can all come together under the banner of the local team to enjoy something as frivolous as a game.<\/p>\n
And the athletes who demand our collective attention \u2014 the ones who give us something to cheer about \u2014 are unforgettable.<\/p>\n
Even if he parted under less-than-ideal circumstances\u00a0\u2014 a contentious season capped by an 0-for-10 performance in the Warriors\u2019 one postseason game, followed by unceremonious exit to Dallas in free agency \u2014 Thompson will forever be in that legend category around these parts.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why he was given a guard of honor from Dubs employees when he entered the building on Tuesday. That\u2019s why the whole arena gladly wore the team\u2019s gate giveaway, a white captain\u2019s hat. That\u2019s why Thompson was given a long, raucous standing ovation before the game started and was cheered when he made two free throws to open the game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a little misty-eyed, for sure,\u201d Steve Kerr said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really cool to see the fans\u2019 gratitude,\u201d Thompson said. \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019ll never take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
We all had grown used to not seeing Thompson in a Warriors uniform. He missed two-and-a-half years due to injury, after all.<\/p>\n
But yes, it was weird to see him wearing different laundry.<\/p>\n
And, absolutely, it was all a bit awkward celebrating someone who was actively going against Golden State.<\/p>\n
Thompson can attest to all of that himself.<\/p>\n
He couldn\u2019t hide his body language during the seemingly endless cheers for him pregame. Given where Thompson is in his career \u2014 a lesser version of the all-time-great he once was, Tuesday had to feel like he was attending his own wake.<\/p>\n
And you can\u2019t blame Thompson, after making his third 3-pointer of the game halfway through the second quarter, for running to the opposite side of the court as the whistle blew for a timeout. It was muscle memory\u00a0\u2014 that\u2019s how he would celebrate with Dubs fans in the past. He caught himself, realizing that he does not, in fact, live here anymore.<\/p>\n
Amid all that adulation and peculiarity, there was catharsis as well.<\/p>\n
Thompson played well on Tuesday, scoring 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting, with all but one made basket coming from behind the 3-point arc.<\/p>\n
But the Warriors are playing well without Thompson. And you\u2019d be hard-pressed to argue that they\u2019d be better off with No. 11, seeing as Dubs general manager Mike Dunleavy turned him into Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield via an elaborate sign-and-trade this July. Anderson was a late scratch with neck spasms on Tuesday, and Hield had an underwhelming game, but De\u2019Anthony Melton, whose free-agency addition was made possible by Thompson\u2019s exit, was immense next to Steph Curry in the starting lineup. All three have been outstanding to start the season.<\/p>\n
Somewhere after that third Thompson 3-pointer and the accidental celebration, the night\u2019s pomp and circumstance faded, and the game took center stage. And it was a hell of a game, too. That Steph Curry guy (37 points, a night-night 3-pointer with 26 seconds remaining) has a bright future in this league.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt hurts to be on the other side of one of his flurries,\u201d Thompson said amid a press conference where he had to refer to Curry and the Warriors as \u201cthem\u201d and \u201cthose guys.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you play someone you\u2019re close with, you want to beat them even more,\u201d Draymond Green said after the game. \u201cIt just raises that level of competition.\u201d<\/p>\n
One could have even inferred that Curry was angry at Thompson, given how emphatic his celebrations were following his big 3-pointer. He yelled something like, \u201cYou miss it here?\u201d into the TV cameras, pointing to the floor and the Golden State on his jersey. You can forgive Curry if he forgot to be politically correct at that moment. He ran the proper lines after the game but said he \u201cforgot\u201d what he said to the camera.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019ll always be weird\u201d to play Thompson, Curry said. \u201cThere\u2019s nothing that can cure that. You\u2019ve heard us talk for years about all wanting to finish with one organization.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alas, that\u2019s not how it all went down. And with this game \u2014 and all the emotions that surrounded it \u2014 in the books, everyone can now move forward.<\/p>\n
After the game, Thompson stood in the middle of the court, hugging Warriors staffers and players.<\/p>\n
And as he exited, he received another loud ovation from Warriors fans.<\/p>\n
Thompson tried to downplay the emotions of his return in the lead-up to the game. He certainly wasn\u2019t happy his team lost, especially after holding a late fourth-quarter lead.<\/p>\n
But as Warriors fans chanted his name on his way down the tunnel, he couldn\u2019t help but smirk.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s good to be home, even if only for a night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Steph Curry\u2019s 37 points upstaged Klay Thompson\u2019s return to Chase Center.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7157,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7154","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n