On Tuesday night, an emotional trip back to Chase Center awaits Klay Thompson, as he will be entering his former home for the first time as a member of the opposition when the Dallas Mavericks take on the Golden State Warriors to open up the group stage of the NBA Cup. This will be a surreal moment, as Thompson spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Warriors franchise, playing a prominent role in establishing the team as a dynasty with four championships in the span of eight seasons.
There will surely be strong emotions present from both Thompson and the Warriors' side of the equation. But for the veteran sharpshooter, he is looking to push those emotions to the side as he locks in ahead of the Mavericks' bid to snap their current two-game losing streak.
“It’ll be good to see people you grinded with obviously, but to me, it’s just another regular season game in November. Obviously, there are bigger implications with the NBA Cup, so what's on my mind is to win that because I haven't been a part of it yet. I know it's young, but it'd be fun to play for that title,” Thompson said following the Mavericks' heartbreaking 122-120 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night, via Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
This Mavericks team should be hungry to compete for some silverware after they lost in five games during last season's NBA Finals. And the first step to their bid to win the NBA Cup is to get past a Warriors team that has been red-hot, apart from a horrible loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers back on Friday.
As for Thompson, he will be playing his part in helping the Mavericks get the victory, and that includes sharing all the Warriors' secrets that have been ingrained in him.
“Probably share my knowledge with teammates, coaches,” Thompson said. “Obviously a high-volume three-point shooting team, and [they] switch a ton on defense. We'll go into Tuesday trying to counteract those two aspects.”
Klay Thompson should hear a hero's welcome from Warriors fans despite being in Mavericks colors
Last week, Paul George was greeted with a chorus of boos from Los Angeles Clippers fans when the Philadelphia 76ers visited Intuit Dome. But Klay Thompson's reception in Chase Center on Tuesday should not be similar to that whatsoever. Thompson is a certified Warriors legend who will be met by a unanimous stream of cheers even if he's now representing the Mavericks.
Thompson was the perfect backcourt partner for Stephen Curry for over a decade, and even though parting ways was for the best for both parties, this should not diminish the contributions he's had in making the Warriors franchise the juggernaut it is today.
But of course, once the game clock starts, the Warriors faithful will be rooting against Thompson and the Mavericks, as they should be. Thompson, at the very least, is showing that the unfamiliar feeling of being an opposing player in Chase Center is not something that's going to be bothering him.
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