Shortly before Klay Thompson's anticipated return to Chase Center Tuesday night, Warriors coach Steve Kerr surprisingly revealed longtime teammate Steph Curry would not address the crowd pregame as previously planned.
The two Splash Brothers talked Monday night and agreed that Curry would no longer take the mic, according to Kerr's pregame availability.
On Wednesday, a day after Curry's late heroics lifted Golden State to a 120-117 win over Dallas, Draymond Green revealed some eye-opening information about the interactions between the two Warriors legends leading up to the game.
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"Steph was supposed to speak before the game," Green told co-host Baron Davis on the latest episode of "The Draymond Green Show." "[Steph] was like, 'I called [Warriors VP of Communications Raymond Ridder] and told him I'm not speaking. I just need to lock in on the game. ... And I talked to Klay about it.'"
"[Steph] tried to check in with Klay on something else, and Klay ghosted him. So he got pissed."
“Klay ghosted him… so he got PISSED”@money23green tells @barondavis why Steph Curry was extra motivated in Tuesday’s win over the Mavericks pic.twitter.com/1XlWIYHi6x
— The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis (@DraymondShow) November 13, 2024
As Green and Davis noted, perhaps that gave Curry the extra edge he needed to fuel the Warriors on Tuesday. With Golden State trailing 114-108 in crunch time, Curry scored the game's next ten points to take down his old friend Thompson and the Mavericks.
Golden State Warriors
In classic Draymond fashion, Green also admitted to "stirring the pot" in his conversations with Curry earlier in the day in order to motivate his teammate ahead of a sentimental matchup. Just as Green watched Thompson's tribute video ahead of time to avoid its emotional effects just before the game, he encouraged Curry to do the same.
"As soon as I texted [Steph], he called me right away," Green explained. "So I then tried to stir the pot a little bit."
That instigation likely contributed to Curry being "pissed" -- in Green's words -- by the time the game started.
Whatever Green did exactly to galvanize Curry, it certainly worked, helping the Warriors spoil Thompson's homecoming and earn a big win in the NBA In-Season Tournament.