No one knew it for sure at the time, but when the Golden State Warriors drafted Klay Thompson with the 11th pick of the 2011 NBA Draft, they were already building a championship-level backcourt alongside Stephen Curry. But again, greatness rarely comes easy. As Thompson would attest to, his relationship with Curry didn't begin on the best of notes. In fact, it took the Splash Brothers years before they built a relationship that would lead to success soon enough.
Speaking on the Podcast P with Paul George presented by Wave Sports + Entertainment, the Warriors' longtime shooting guard revealed when it clicked exactly between him and Curry off the court.
“I don't think me & Steph [Curry] said a word to each other the first year to be honest. Steph only played 20 games that year, I was riding the bench [for the] first 30 games of the year. We didn't really speak to each other that much. Our relationship didn't really build until [after] our third year when we played for that Team USA and we finally hung out off the court,” Thompson said.
Per ClutchPoints Twitter:
"I don't think me & Steph [Curry] said a word to each other the first year… Our relationship really didn't build until our third year when we played for that Team USA and we finally hung out off the court."
—Klay Thompson
(via @PodcastPShow)pic.twitter.com/OP6HiE3H5z
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 9, 2023




The year Klay Thompson was pertaining to was 2014, when Team USA competed in Spain for the FIBA World Cup, winning the gold medal in the process. This was before the Warriors blossomed into the powerhouse we came to know them as during the mid-to-late 2010s, and evidently, Thompson's link-up with Stephen Curry proved vital in lifting a Dubs team that was fresh off a first-round exit towards legitimate title contention.
The two Warriors legends ended up bonding over golf as Team USA prepared for the upcoming tournament back then.
“We had nothing else to do and where were we, like Canary Islands? We had nothing else to do so we went and played golf [and] we finally got to know each other on the golf course,” Thompson added.
This may be one of the most underrated moments in NBA history in terms of sheer importance. Who knows how the 2014-15 Warriors would have performed had they not built this strong of a connection off the court during this pivotal offseason? Nevertheless, Warriors fans will forever be grateful that the Splash Brothers ended up being one of the most legendary partnerships in the sport.