The break-up between Klay Thompson and Golden State Warriors may be painful, as it will be a jarring sight to look at Thompson donning a Dallas Mavericks uniform after 13 years with the Dubs, but this parting of ways was very much inevitable and necessary. But no one should ever let Thompson’s departure sully the fact that he accomplished so much with the Warriors franchise and they would not have reached the heights they did if not for his services.

In particular, Warriors owner Joe Lacob revealed that his first text message to Thompson, after he sealed his move to the Mavericks via a sign-and-trade, contained the video of Lacob bowing to him following a tour-de-force performance from Thompson in Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder. when he scored 41 points and went bonkers to save the Dubs’ season.

“I sent him that little video of me bowing to him. It was just my way of saying, that he meant so much to us and so much to this organization and everything we’ve accomplished as a group and that I still feel that way about him. And I always will. It will never change,” Lacob said in an appearance on The Athletic NBA Show with David Aldridge and Marcus Thompson.

“I don’t care what, you know, people think happened or didn’t happen. He will always be welcome in my life. I hope he feels the same. Honestly, I get a little teary-eyed about it. I hope we’re gonna be friends forever. He’s just gonna be in Dallas for a few years, we’ll have to kick his a**. That’s just the job.”

There may have been the lingering feeling of disappointment that surrounded Klay Thompson and the Warriors during the 2023-24 season. But this doesn’t make the fruitful years that they spent together any less meaningful. Thompson is a franchise legend through and through, and there should be a mending of fences soon enough.

Remembering Klay Thompson’s best moments with the Warriors

We are certainly at the point in Klay Thompson’s career where nostalgia reigns supreme. As much as Thompson would deny it, he is no longer the same player he once was. His athleticism has declined sharply, and understandably so. This is the same player who missed 2.5 seasons due to a torn ACL and a torn Achilles tendon, and it was a downright miracle that he was able to contribute to the Warriors’ championship run in 2022 at such a high level.

Thompson is receiving plenty of clowning in social media these days; he certainly did not end his Warriors stint on a high after going 0-10 in an elimination game in the 9/10 play-in tournament game. But no one should ever let recency bias take over when judging Thompson and who he is as a player.

Klay Thompson’s most iconic moment as a Warrior certainly came in Game 6 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals. The 73-win Warriors were on the ropes on the road, but Thompson said that they were not going home that easily. He scored 19 points in the fourth quarter of that game on 6-9 shooting from the field (5-6 from deep) to finish with 41 on the night to rescue the Warriors en route to a 3-1 comeback.

Thompson is also responsible for the most explosive scoring quarter in NBA history, scoring 37 points in a single period against the Sacramento Kings in March 2015. He also made a legend for himself in multiple Game 6s, going berserk against the Houston Rockets in 2018, tallying 35 points, and then giving it his all in the 2019 NBA Finals by scoring 30 points before his ACL gave out.

Who could ever forget the time when Klay Thompson went off for a career-high 60 points on just 11 dribbles? Thompson also went unconscious from beyond the arc in late 2018, setting the single-game record for most threes with 14 against the Chicago Bulls.

There is no shortage of iconic moments from Thompson in a Warriors uniform. He is forever going to be a legend of the franchise, and his departure for the Mavericks does not change anything. Soon, the franchise will be building a Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green a statue outside of Chase Center for making the Warriors a household name.

But for now, the Warriors will be looking towards flourishing in the post-Thompson era. The Warriors should face the Mavericks early in the season, with the two teams sharing a group in the 2024 NBA In-Season Tournament, and that game should be packed with plenty of narratives given how rich the history is between them.