Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry and his former running mate in Dallas Mavericks’ Klay Thompson went toe-to-toe in an epic battle Tuesday night. Thompson received an epic video tribute before the game, and the Warriors beat Dallas 120-117. However, Curry was initially supposed to give a speech before tip-off but scrapped the idea at the last minute. After the win, a reporter asked Klay what led him to decide.
“It was more about the fans acknowledging him, and I don’t think I needed to say anything to egg that on,” Curry said. “It’s obviously not about me. It’s about what he meant to the Bay Area.”
For Curry, Thompson’s tribute video and the standing ovation were enough.
“It was pretty apparent that when I got out here for two-line layups, and after the tribute video, they [were] going to speak loud enough,” Curry added. “So, it’s obviously not about me. It’s about what he meant to the Bay area, to our franchise, to all the fans that got to watch him from 2011 to this past year, and I think it was really well done from the organization’s standpoint, the fans did their thing. And, me and Draymond [Green] got to be a part of the standing ovation that he deserved.”
But what would Curry have said if he’d gone through with the pregame speech?
“I didn’t think about it much,” Curry replied. “I would have said what I just said pretty much. It’s about y’all [the fans]. We have all of our moments behind the scenes and between us, where we can acknowledge what we all meant to each other. But you give your life to this game for your whole career. We’ve had the blessing of having to play for one fanbase for so long. So, no words I would have said would have done it justice. It was for the 19,000 people in that building.”
Former Warriors guard Klay Thompson on pregame tribute video
Despite Stephen Curry’s scrapped speech, Klay Thompson appreciated the Warriors’ video tribute. After the game, the Mavericks shooting guard talked about what it meant, per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.
“It was a really cool experience,” Thompson said. “I appreciate the fans very much. The captain’s hat ended up being a great touch because I’m such a passionate boater. Saw a lot of familiar faces in the crowd, and that was a warm-hearted feeling. It was really cool to see the fans, their gratitude toward myself — and something I’ll never take for granted. So it was very, very awesome.”
The next time these two teams face off will be when the Mavericks host the Warriors on February 12.
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