Klay Thompson wants to recharge with the Mavericks: “Sometimes breakups are necessary”

DALLAS — Klay Thompson, who grew up near Portland, Oregon, still vividly remembers the “greatest day of my life” when Scottie Pippen joined his hometown Trail Blazers. Although Pippen had left the Chicago Bulls a year earlier, he arrived in Portland as a future Hall of Famer at age 34 with a slew of titles under his belt.

“I’m not saying I’m Scottie,” Thompson said, speaking Tuesday for the first time as a member of the Dallas Mavericks. “(But) I take a lot of inspiration from past athletes and how their careers have gone downhill when they left the team or joined a new team. Some players blossom, and I’m looking forward to getting back out here and playing. (There’s) a lot, a lot of basketball in the tank.”

Thompson’s departure from the Golden State Warriors after 13 seasons had been rumored for months, but it wasn’t until recent weeks that Thompson finally accepted it as a reality. According to reports from The AthleticThe contracts he offered the Warriors after the season went unanswered as the organization prioritized other team-building opportunities.

“I was a little disappointed at first,” Thompson said.

But once he decided he wouldn’t return to the team that drafted him, he felt excited about being given another opportunity. “I’m very grateful for my time in Golden State,” Thompson said. “But I just felt like moving on could reenergize me and allow me to do something special for the rest of my career.”

Thompson added: “Sometimes breakups are necessary to do what is right.”

Once he decided he wasn’t going back to the team that drafted him, his new home was an obvious choice. It was in Dallas with the Mavericks, a team that had drawn him in watching their run to the NBA Finals last month.

“Dallas was very attractive because of the young players,” Thompson said. “When I watched the Mavs compete for the title, I could see myself fitting in with that team and their staff. They looked like they had fun together. They played for each other and that was very attractive to me. That’s really all I needed to see. There was a mutual interest, and that’s why I’m here.”

Stephen Curry, the other half of the Splash Brothers duo, said earlier this week that he hopes to see joy return to Thompson’s game. “There were times last year where it wasn’t as joyful as it used to be,” Thompson acknowledged.

One person who helped convince Thompson that Dallas was the right place for a renaissance was Kyrie Irving, who notably reshaped his public image while fully embracing the city as his home after re-signing with the Mavericks last summer.

“(Kyrie) was one of the first people to message me and tell me how grateful he was to be here and how grateful the city has been, the organization has been,” said Thompson, who played against Irving twice in the NBA Finals and was also his teammate on Team USA. “The fact that he came here and embraced the city and embraced his role was inspiring to me.”

In choosing Dallas, Thompson turned down an offer from one of the league’s most prized franchises, the Los Angeles Lakers, who also made him a competitive offer to sign him. It was a disappointment to Thompson’s father, Mychal, who won two championships playing for the Lakers and is now employed by the team as a radio analyst. “I’m not in a big congratulatory mood right now,” Thompson’s father told SiriusXM NBA Radio last week, making it clear he hoped his son would sign with the franchise he holds dearest.

“Yeah, my dad was disappointed,” Thompson said. “But at the end of the day, he was happy for me. He was a little selfish in his business interests because he wanted me to stay home with the family. I said, ‘Dad, I’ve lived in California my whole life. I got to experience something new.’ So he understood and he’s really happy for me and he thinks we have a great chance to do something special here.”

Thompson also received the trust of Michael Finley, the team’s assistant general manager who left the Mavericks during his playing career when he was in his 30s. When Thompson met with Finley and general manager Nico Harrison on the opening night of free agency before making his final decision, he ended up peppering Finley with questions about his playing career, such as The Athletic detailed last week.

Thompson now has the opportunity to play alongside Irving and Luka Dončić, with the latter texting Thompson to let him know how excited he is. Dončić has created more open three-pointers for his teammates than any other player in the league.

“I don’t think you can stick with me (with) guys like Luka and Kai on the field as much as you could in the past,” Thompson said.

It’s not hard to see how that will translate. After all, Thompson said, “you still can’t leave me open.”

(Top photo: Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)