Steph Curry’s Emotional Message About Klay Thompson, Draymond Green After Season-Ending Loss, as Klay misses all 10 shots in what might have been his final game with the Warriors….

Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors had their season come to an end Tuesday night with a 118–94 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the NBA play-in tournament.

It didn’t take long for people to wonder if the loss marked the end of a special era that saw Curry and Klay Thompson team up for years as the “Splash Brothers” while winning four NBA titles. Thompson, who went scoreless in 32 minutes of action against the Kings, is set to hit free agency this summer and his future with the Warriors is very much in doubt.

Steph Curry on Draymond/Klay: “I can never see myself not with those two guys.”

Are big changes needed? “I just want to win.” pic.twitter.com/ugRK6e8eeb

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) April 17, 2024

Curry spoke after the game about how much Thompson and Draymond Green mean to him:

Warriors coach Steve Kerr also spoke after the game about Thompson.

“We need Klay back,” Kerr said. “I know he had a tough night tonight, but what he represents for us—the spacing—we’re not a deep shooting team. We’re a little top-heavy. Klay’s presence means so much to the spacing of the floor, to the flow of the offense.

“He’s still got good years left. We want him back. Obviously, there’s business at hand, and that has to be addressed. … What Klay has meant to this franchise, as good he still is, we desperately want him back.”

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Klay Thompson misses all 10 shots in what might have been his final game with the Warriors

Klay Thompson has provided so many memorable moments during his decade-plus run as Stephen Curry’s Splash Brother running mate for the Golden State Warriors dynasty.

The Game 6 heroics. The scores of 3-pointers. The shut-down defence against some of the game’s top scorers.

Those were all distant memories as Thompson had one of his worst games ever at a big moment, missing all 10 shots he took Tuesday night in a 118-94 loss to the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tournament that was Thompson’s last game before an uncertain summer of free agency.

“Everybody’s going to talk about one game,” Curry said. “I know he wanted to play better. … I know he’s a true champion. We all prepare ourselves to play our best when the lights are bright. When it doesn’t happen, nobody needs to tell you anything.

Thompson spent the final minutes of the loss sitting on the bench with a blank stare before slowly walking off the court for what might have been the final time in a Warriors uniform.

He went scoreless for the first time since his rookie season and had the most missed shots without a make in a playoff game by a Warriors player in at least 50 seasons.

It was a far cry from his 37-point third quarter against the Kings in 2015 or a 60-point game against Indiana the following season or the 11 3-pointers he hit in the sixth game of the 2016 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City that helped force a seventh game and an eventual trip back to the NBA Finals.

But Thompson has struggled to get back to that level after missing two full seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21 with catastrophic injuries to his knee and Achilles. He returned to help Golden State win a fourth championship in this era in 2022 but struggled for long portions of this season.

He was benched in key late-game moments at times, forced to come off the bench during one stretch but had seemed to find his groove late in the season before falling flat against the Kings.

That ended the final season of a five-year contract worth nearly US$190 million and now is set to become a free agent in July. The Warriors must decide how much they are willing to pay a 34-year old whose best seasons are in the past after a pair of serious injuries and Thompson must decide how big a pay cut he’s willing to take or whether he’d rather finish his career somewhere else.

“We need Klay back. I know he had a tough night tonight,” coach Steve Kerr said. “I know I speak for everyone in the organization, we want him back. Obviously there’s business at hand and that has to be addressed. … But what Klay has meant to this franchise, as good as he is, we definitely want him back.”

Thompson has been a major part of a franchise that won four championships and made six trips to the Finals from 2015-22. Thompson’s 2,481 made 3-pointers in the regular season are the sixth most in NBA history and the 501 he has made in the playoffs are more than anyone other than Curry.

Thompson didn’t talk to the media after the game but is expected to talk on Wednesday as the team heads home for an uncertain summer.

“He has a decision to make,” forward Draymond Green said. “He’s going to make the best decision for him. The team has a decision to make. They’ll make the best decision for the team. I don’t think there’s any scenario where Klay leaves and that’s the best scenario for this team of organization. … They did right by me. They’ve done right by Steph. They’ve done right by all of us.”

This marked the first time the Warriors missed the playoffs in a season when they had the trio of Curry, Thompson and Green healthy. Their 12 seasons as teammates are the second most of any trio in NBA history, trailing only the 14 for San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

“I can never see myself not with those two guys,” Curry said. “I understand this league changes and there’s so many things that go into it and we’re not going to play forever. But we experienced so much together. At the end of the day, I know they want to win and I know I want to win and that’s all I worry about.”

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Steph Curry’s Heartfelt Statement After Season-Ending Loss About Klay Thompson and Draymond Green…

Steph Curry’s Emotional Message About Klay Thompson, Draymond Green After Season-Ending Loss, as Klay misses all 10 shots in what might have been his final game with the Warriors….

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