SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Klay Thompson has provided so many memorable moments during his 10-year tenure as Stephen Curry’s go-to Splash Brother for the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty.
The Game 6 heroics. The three point scores. Ending defense against some of the game’s top scorers.
Those were all distant memories as Thompson had one of his worst games ever in a big time, missing all 10 shots he took Tuesday night in a 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the Play-In Tournament which was Thompson’s final game before an uncertain summer of free agency.
“Everybody’s going to talk about a game,” Curry said. “I know he wanted to play better. … I know he is a true champion. We all prepare to play our best when the lights are on. When it doesn’t, no one needs to tell you anything.
Thompson spent the final minutes of the loss sitting on the bench with a blank stare before slowly walking off the court for what could be the last time he was in a Warriors uniform.
He went scoreless for the first time since his rookie season and had the most missed shots in a playoff game by a Warriors player in at least 50 seasons.
It was a far cry from his 37-point third quarter against the Kings in 2015 or a 60-point game against Indiana the following season or the 11 3-pointers he hit in Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City. helped make it a seventh game and an eventual trip back to the NBA Finals.
But Thompson has struggled to return to that level after missing two full seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21 with devastating knee and Achilles injuries. He returned to help Golden State win a fourth championship in this era in 2022, but struggled for large parts of this season.
He was benched at times in key moments late in the game, forced to come off the bench during one drive, but seemed to find his groove late in the season before going down against the Kings.
That ended the final season of a five-year contract worth nearly $190 million and is now set to become a free agent in July. The Warriors must decide how much they’re willing to pay a 34-year-old whose best seasons are in the past after a pair of serious injuries, and Thompson must decide how much of a pay cut he’s willing to take or whether he’d rather be done. his career somewhere else.
Warriors’ Steve Kerr: “We need Klay [Thompson] back. … He still has good years. I know I speak for everyone in the organization: We want him back. … We desperately want him back.”
— Ben Golliver (@BenGolliver) April 17, 2024
“We need Clay back. I know he had a tough night tonight,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I know I speak for everyone in the organization, we want him back. Obviously there is a job at hand and this needs to be addressed. … But what Klay meant to this franchise, as good as he is, we definitely want him back.”
Thompson was an important part of a franchise that won four championships and made six trips to the Finals from 2015-22. Thompson’s 2,481 regular-season 3-pointers are sixth-most in NBA history, and his 501 in the playoffs are more than anyone other than Curry.
Thompson did not speak to the media after the game but is expected to speak Wednesday as the team heads home for an uncertain summer.
“He’s got a decision to make,” forward Draymond Green said. “He will make the best decision for him. The team has a decision to make. They will make the best decision for the team. I don’t think there’s a scenario where Clay leaves and that’s the best scenario for this organization group. … They did right by me. They got it right by Steph. They have done right by all of us.”
This was the first time the Warriors missed the playoffs in a season in which they had the trio of Curry, Thompson and Green healthy.. Their 12 seasons as teammates is the second most of any trio in NBA history, trailing only San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili at 14.
“I can never see myself not with those two guys,” Curry said. “I understand that this league is changing and there are so many things in it and we’re not going to play forever. But we’ve been through so much together. At the end of the day, I know they want to win and I know I want to win and that’s all I’m worried about.”