LAS VEGAS — After his first apply with Workforce USA forward of the Olympics, Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr addressed the departure of Klay Thompson to the Dallas Mavericks and wished the five-time All-Star effectively after “13 unimaginable years.”
“What he did for the crew, the group, for the Bay Space, for me personally — the connection that we had, all of the unimaginable success however extra importantly simply going via all of it collectively, it has been so significant and so wonderful,” mentioned Kerr, who coached Thompson for 10 of his 13 seasons with Golden State.
“We’re going to miss Klay. We want him one of the best. These items not often go such as you need the place you get to attract it up and execute it and everyone goes out collectively. We had been hoping that would occur, nevertheless it did not. We want Klay effectively, however we love him and we’ll miss him.”
Thompson agreed to a three-year, $50 million deal to affix the Mavericks as a free agent Monday; the sign-and-trade with Dallas, which included six groups whole, was formally introduced Saturday evening. It marked the tip of a run with the Warriors that resulted in 4 championships and the formation of the league’s biggest taking pictures backcourt with Thompson and Stephen Curry.
However after a tough season that noticed him being pulled from the beginning lineup for a time, Thompson determined it was time to make a change. Kerr mentioned he’d talked with Thompson about his resolution and that he “utterly understands” the place he was coming from.
“That is actually my job as a coach, is to assist him,” Kerr mentioned. “I feel that is actually been the hardest factor for Klay, coping with the accidents and the aftermath. Two years, to be out two straight years with career-threatening accidents. Previous to that Klay … He did not want a variety of counsel. The final couple of years, he is wanted it as a result of this has been so robust for him. I am amazed at his capability to come back again from these accidents, to assist us win one other championship, to play on the degree he is performed at.”
Kerr mentioned the transfer was the correct resolution for Thompson.
“I feel it is smart for him in his coronary heart to get a distinct change of tempo, change of location,” Kerr mentioned. “Get out of California, go play on a distinct crew. It is what’s proper for him proper now.”
Kerr is intimately conversant in the method of change from his personal enjoying days, having seen up shut how the Michael Jordan-led Chicago Bulls groups within the late Nineteen Nineties got here to an finish. He mentioned that non-public historical past helped give him context for the present state of the Warriors, and he admitted that he by no means felt just like the crew was going to have a storybook ending.
“I have not ever had fantasies that this factor would simply go on for one more 5, six years and Steph, Klay and Dray would retire collectively and I might retire with them. … There’s by no means been that thought,” Kerr mentioned. “I have been across the league for a very long time, whether or not it is Chicago or different conditions. It is by no means simple, when this stuff begin to run out.
“However the greatest factor is the relationships endure. The recollections endure. Klay’s going to have a statue exterior Chase [Center] sometime, he’ll be beloved by his teammates and coaches and our followers eternally. And yeah, it is by no means simple. But it surely’s all going to, I feel, it will all work out for everybody.”