Klay Thompson wants to reactivate with Mavericks: ‘Sometimes breakups are necessary’

DALLAS – Growing up near Portland, Oregon, Klay Thompson still remembers “the biggest day of his life,” when Scottie Pippen joined his hometown Trail Blazers. While Pippen had left the Chicago Bulls a year earlier, he arrived in Portland as an acclaimed 34-year-old future Hall of Famer with multiple championships.

“I’m not saying I’m Scotty,” Thompson said Tuesday, speaking for the first time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. “(But) I take a lot of inspiration from past athletes and how their careers might have been ruined when they left the team or joined a new team. Some people thrive and I’m looking forward to coming back fresh and playing. (There’s) a lot — a lot — of basketball left in the tank.”

Thompson’s exit from the Golden State Warriors after 13 seasons had been anticipated for months, but it wasn’t until the past few weeks that Thompson finally accepted it as reality. According to the report of athleticThe contract he offered the Warriors after the season went unanswered as the organization prioritized other team-building opportunities.

“I was a little disappointed at first,” Thompson said.

But once he decided he would not return to the team that chose him, the opportunity for a new opportunity created excitement. “I’m very grateful for my time in Golden State,” Thompson said. “But I just felt like moving forward could re-energize me and do something special for the rest of my career.”

“Sometimes a breakup is necessary to do the right thing,” Thompson said.

Once he decided he would not return to the team that chose him, his new home was an obvious choice. He was in Dallas with the Mavericks, a team he was attracted to after watching their run to the previous month’s NBA Finals.

“Dallas was so attractive because of the young players,” Thompson said. “As I’ve been watching the Mavs make their run for a championship, I see myself fitting in really well with this team and personnel. They seem to be enjoying playing with each other. They played for each other and it was very attractive to me. That’s really all I wanted to see. There was mutual interest there and that’s why I’m here.”

Stephen Curry, the other half of the Splash Brothers duo, said earlier this week that he expects Thompson to find joy in his game. “There were times last year when it wasn’t as enjoyable as it was before,” Thompson admitted.

One person who helped convince Thompson that Dallas was the right place for a rebirth was Kyrie Irving, who fully adopted the city as his home after re-signing with the Mavericks last summer. Reshaped public image.

“(Kyrie) was really one of the first guys to send me a message about how grateful he was to be here and how the city embraced him, the organization embraced him,” said Thompson, who played against Irving twice in the NBA Finals. ” He has also had teammates on Team USA. “For him to come here and embrace the city and embrace the role, he’s inspired me.”

In choosing Dallas, Thompson turned down interest from one of the league’s glamor franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers, who had also made a competing offer to sign him. This was a disappointment to Thompson’s father Mychal, who won two championships while playing for the Lakers and now works as a radio analyst for the team. “I’m not in a very congratulatory mood right now,” the elder Thompson told SiriusXM NBA Radio last week. He made it clear that he expected his son to sign with the most special franchise for him.

“Yeah, my dad was disappointed,” Thompson said. “But at the end of the day, he was happy for me. He was a little selfish in his business interests because he wanted me to be at home with the family. I said, ‘Dad, I’ve lived in California my whole life. I experienced something new. So he understands and he’s really excited for me and he thinks we have a good chance to do something special here.”

Thompson also received confidence in his decision to sign with the Mavericks from the team’s assistant general manager Michael Finley, who left the Mavericks during his playing career at the age of 30. When Thompson met with Finley and general manager Nico Harrison on the opening night of free agency before making his final decision, he asked Finley questions about his playing career, because athletic Detailed last week.

Now, Thompson has the opportunity to play next to Irving and Luka Doncic, who messaged Thompson to express his excitement. Doncic has made more open 3s for his teammates than any other player in the league.

“I don’t think you can keep up with me with guys like Luca and Kai as well as you could before,” Thompson said.

It’s not hard to see how this would translate. After all, Thompson said, “You still can’t let me loose.”

(Top photo: Theron W. Henderson/Getty Images)