Mavericks' Klay Thompson silences Warriors homecoming: 'That chapter is over'
One of the most jarring sights of this NBA season so far has been seeing Klay Thompson in a different jersey other than his patented Golden State Warriors No. 11. Instead, Thompson is rocking the No. 31 in Dallas with the Mavericks as he chases another championship.
Ideally, the Warriors would have kept their core of Thompson, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green together until the end of their successful careers, but Thompson's performance in 2023-24 combined with his impending free agency caused the two sides to split.
As Thompson gets settled in Dallas, he isn't focused on looking back at his success with the Warriors, according to Marc J. Spears of Andscape.
"That chapter is over," Thompson said on Sunday night, per Spears. "I'm in the midst of trying to win here. There is no point in missing anything when we have such a great opportunity here to be great. There's no point in looking back. ... I got to look forward. I got to try to give my best self here."
Thompson is still finding his shot in his first season in Dallas. Through 10 games, Thompson is averaging 13.8 points per game but is shooting just 35.4% from the 3-point line.
It's natural to ask Thompson to reflect on his time in the Bay Area after he won four NBA titles there, but he has his sights firmly on collecting a fifth with the Mavericks.
Mavericks trying to find rhythm early in 2024-25 season
The Dallas Mavericks came into the 2024-25 season with sky-high expectations after reaching the NBA Finals last season. Despite being the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference last season, the Mavericks rolled through three playoff series to win the conference before falling to the Boston Celtics in the championship series.
This season has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start for Luka Doncic and company. The Mavericks currently sit at 5-5 after a tough loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday night where Kyrie Irving nearly carried them to a win, but the heroics of Nikola Jokic were too much in the end.
One of the biggest questions surrounding the Mavericks coming into this season is how Jason Kidd would balance his lineups. Thompson is obviously still one lite shooter and commands a ton of defensive attention, but he isn't the same defender as he was before his injuries with the Warriors. On the other end of the spectrum, the Mavericks added Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes, who can provide them with better defense on the wing.
So far, Kidd has opted to start Thompson alongside both Irving and Doncic in order to maximize the spacing and the firepower that Dallas has on the court. Despite that, the Mavericks rank 10th in the NBA in both offensive and defensive ratings. Those numbers suggest that the Mavericks will be better than .500 over the long term, and their record could shoot up even more if Thompson sees an uptick in his shooting.
