The Klay Area

A sold-out Chase Center crowd all held their captains hats high and saluted one of the greatest players in Warriors franchise history. Tuesday November 10th was an emotional night for everyone around the NBA. 

On a night that should be celebrated for the NBA Cup (in season) tournament, there was something way more important. Klay Thomspon was making his return back to the Bay Area. 

Klay Thompson was one of the greatest Warriors in the history of the franchise. He won four championships in his 13 years here and showed all of dub nation what a true Warrior is. He went through more adversity than any player in the league, yet won his 4th championship after suffering two potential career ending injuries.  

During free agency, Klay and the Warriors did not agree on a new contract, Klay then signed with the reigning Western Conference Champion, Dallas Mavericks. The deal was worth $50 million over three years. Klay leaving was expected as the 2023-24 season went on and they still had no contract extension done. 

Leading up to the game, Klay Thomspon kept saying, “it’s just another regular season game in November.” It in fact was not another regular season game in November for him. Right after the Warriors 90 second tribute video to Klay, he got emotional and held his hands up high to salute the crowd who were showing nothing but love to him. 

The game tipped off and right away we saw Steph Curry matched up against his former Splash Bro. Klay drew a foul and shot two free throws as the crowd chanted, “thank you Klay,” as he put the Mavericks up 2-0. Head coach Stever Kerr said, “We went over our pregame scout and the matchups. It was almost surreal saying, ‘Steph, you got Klay.’ Steph smiled.” This is the first time ever we have seen Steph guard Klay in a meaningful basketball game.

As the game went on, we saw Klay have his flurries. Midway through the second quarter Klay hit a right corner three to put the Mavs up seven. Right after that three, Klay looked at Curry and did his classic “shimmy” right at him. Steph took that personally.

With 4:20 left in the fourth quarter Steph Curry missed a three and the Mavs led by seven with a 92.3% chance to win according to ESPN Analytics. From that point on Wardell Stephen Curry himself outscored the entire Mavericks team 12-5. 

This might have been the best regular season performance of his entire career; we have never seen him that locked in before during the month of November. He was more determined than ever to knock off his former Splash Bro.  

In the final 3:10 Steph Curry went on a personal 10-0 run against the entire city of Dallas scoring 12 points and not missing a single shot. He was on a mission! 

In Steph Curry’s postgame press conference with TNT’s Allie LaForce he was asked about Klay’s shimmy, Steph responded by saying, “he knows better than that.” Moral of the story, don’t try and get inside the Chef’s head. 

Klay Thompson on Steph Curry: “It hurts to be on the other side of one of his flurries. Guy got hot at the end.” Klay has been on the right side of Curry Flurries for his entire career, but not anymore. 

At the end, the Dubs got the final laugh with a 120-117 win over the reigning western conference champions at the Chase Center. At age 36, Wardell Stephen Curry is still the best player in all of basketball, and it's not particularly close. 

Dub Nation wishes nothing but the best for Klay Thomspon and his career in Dallas (except when he’s playing the Warriors). Klay will always be remembered for turning the Bay Area, Into the Klay Area. Salute to Captain Klay!