To welcome back, even if not everyone misses him, in his first game back against the Golden State Warriors, the team is honoring Dallas Mavericks small forward Klay Thompson by giving away a captain's hat to all 18,064 fans at the Chase Center on Tuesday, November 12, per NBA insider Marc Stein. The Warriors are calling it a “Salute to Captain Klay” to honor his love of boat rides around the San Francisco Bay. Adorable…
Thompson and the Warriors won four NBA championships in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022. The five-time All-Star was drafted by the Warriors with the 11th overall pick in 2011. He spent 11 seasons with Golden State.
Warriors have found new life to start 2024-25 season
Golden State has won five in a row and is now off to a 7-1 start to this young season. While the Thompson era with the Warriors had some highlights, it was clear the team needed to turn the page after last year's 46-36 finish. It seems Golden State has more or less picked up right where they left off and then some with Buddy Hield picking up the slack from three-point range. Steph Curry spoke of Hield's talents and the immediate chemistry, per The Athletic's Anthony Slater.
“The guy just loves to play basketball. He loves to hoop, he loves to be in the gym,” Curry said of Hield. “Without Klay, you need shooting. We needed shooting anyway. Me and him go one and two, Klay right there, shooting threes for the last eight years, so we know what his skillset is. We know what he is capable of doing. It's been a very seamless transition so far.”
After making some NBA history, Hield is already showing incredible prowess in his three-point skills, per OptaSTATS.
“With his third three-point make tonight, Buddy Hield became the only player in NBA history to make 27 or more threes in his first six games with a team.”
Through eight games, Hield is averaging 21.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 4.6 three-pointers per game in just 26.1 minutes.
In what is already shaping up to be one of the premier early-season contests of the season, the Warriors are traveling to Cleveland to face the undefeated 9-9 Cavaliers. Golden State is on its fourth game of a five-game road trip. On Wednesday night, it went wire-to-wire against the Boston Celtics, sinking the defending champions 118-112.
Draymond Green, De'Anthony Melton and Brandin Podziemski are all game-time decisions against the Cavs. Green is questionable because of a right knee contusion.