Steph Curry made too many timeless memories with his former longtime Warriors teammate Klay Thompson.
And with the 34-year-old Splash Brother recently joining the Dallas Mavericks, Curry has nothing but time to reflect on the good times he had with Thompson during their 13-year Golden State partnership.
Curry, 36, revealed his favorite memory of Warriors Thompson in an exclusive interview with The Athletic’s Sam Amick.
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"[On the call with Thompson], I was talking about his [Jan. 9, 2022] game when he came back from his [Achilles] injury against Cleveland [Cavaliers] two years ago [at Chase Center], and the reception that the crowd gave him when he walked on the court for pregame shooting and I was already out there getting shots up wearing my throwback Klay Thompson sleeve jersey,” Curry told Amick.
“It’s him walking on the court, the crowd going crazy. He was there early, and [the scene] was hyping him up because he understood. He was back in his element, back in his zone, after being away from the game for so long.”
That Warriors-Cavaliers game was Thompson’s first since he tore his left ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Toronto Raptors and ruptured his right Achilles tendon during the offseason heading into the 2020-21 season.
It was an emotional night for Thompson, the Warriors and all of Dub Nation, as the sharpshooter wasn’t just suiting up for the first time after recovering from two consecutive season-ending injuries, but also because he was debuting at the Chase Center he virtually helped build in San Francisco.
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Until that inspiring January night, Thompson last played when the Warriors still called Oracle Arena in Oakland home. And while the location of Golden State’s home court might have changed since the five-time NBA All-Star had last played, Curry remembered Thompson’s crowd reception being as loud as ever.
"The way that the crowd reacted to him tells you everything about his relationship with the Bay Area,” Curry told Amick. “He was shooting shots pregame and they were clapping like it was in the middle of the fourth quarter every time he made a shot. And I’m trying to keep a straight face, but I just became a fan in that moment.
“We all can talk about all the amazing games he’s had, or Game 6 Klay, all that type of stuff. But that was my favorite [memory] just because, in a very hard time, it reminded everybody how important he was to the whole franchise and this whole journey."
Four NBA championships later, it is clear to everyone what Thompson meant to Curry and the entire Bay Area sports scene.
But that one Warriors-Cavaliers game, in particular, encompasses how Curry will remember his teammate’s legacy with Golden State.
After all, Thompson made a statement in his return by scoring 17 points to go with an electric poster that ruled social media.
OMG KLAY pic.twitter.com/2iD3h6mgyC
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 10, 2022
Curry had many memories to choose from, but like usual, he didn’t miss with this one.