The sun is setting on the Golden State Warriors dynasty. Klay Thompson's exit in free agency for the Dallas Mavericks that a new era is dawning on the Dubs, with Stephen Curry and company left fighting to salvage whatever remains of the championship core that has led them to much success over the past decade. All good things come to an end, and in the case of Thompson's departure, his decision to leave the Warriors appeared to be set in stone from the moment the 2024 free agency period came around.
Speaking with Tim Kawakami on the TK Show, Warriors owner Joe Lacob gave more information as to what went down behind the scenes in the lead-up to Thompson's decision to join the Mavericks.
“To be frank and honest Klay made the decision prior to free agency that he, and he informed us of it, that his intention was to not come back,” Lacob said.
There was certainly a ton of uncertainty surrounding Klay Thompson and his future after his tumultuous 2023-24 season for the Warriors. It was evident that he was in steep decline; for Joe Lacob, he thinks that this was what led to Thompson's aim for a fresh start.
“Klay is an open book, he felt he needed, for a variety of reasons a fresh start. He put a lot of pressure on himself to be the player he always was in the past. Perhaps he felt like he wasn’t living up to that, or he felt the pressure of the situation, I just don’t know, you’d have to ask him, but he made the decision he wanted to move on,” Lacob added.
While it is a bit jarring to see Klay Thompson wear any jersey other than the Warriors', this breakup appears to be for the best for all parties involved. Only time will tell, however, if parting ways was the best decision.
Did Klay Thompson fumble the Warriors' bag?
Klay Thompson is a Warriors legend through and through. Despite his struggles to end the 2023 NBA playoffs, the Warriors stuck by Thompson. In fact, they even offered him a two-year, $48 million extension over the summer, which he declined.
Thompson declined the guaranteed money in hopes that he could regain his form. But none of the sort happened. In fact, Thompson put up his worst numbers since his sophomore season while being the most inconsistent he has been through his career. The Warriors even benched him in the middle of the season when they were searching for answers amid a midseason slump.
Basically all hopes of a new Warriors contract went out the window for Thompson, as the extension that was on the table in the offseason was no longer available to him in this year's free agency, Joe Lacob revealed.
“The offer from last fall, to be frank, no. That’s clear that was an offer in the fall and we were in the process of developing an offer, but we really couldn’t do that, he knew that, without seeing how a lot of different chips were happening.”
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