The melancholy(?) end of the Splash Bros era

Thanks, Klay. You helped make the run extra special.

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Dynasties don’t end quietly and with grace very often. Few big things do. Generally, it’s more of a cacophony - like the lengthened clink and shatter of a bus tub dropped in a busy restaurant with a bowl wobbling it’s way to an eventual noisy end. The writing was on the wall for a while for Klay Thompson and the Golden State Warriors. Since the departure of Kevin Durant (and Thompson’s injury battles), it felt like the dynasty was clawing for survival. Wonky rosters and plugged rotational holes worked well enough to land one more ring in the hands of the Warriors veterans, but the team was going to eventually have to pivot away from the slow heat death of an aging, expensive roster.

Thompson and his fans endured 941 days between playing games from that first injury in 2019. An unfortunately timed second injury stretched his rehab out to 2021, and the player that returned from two major leg injuries was different. We all age, but few of us are forced to stare quite as hard at the steep decline as professional athletes are. Thompson rejected the notion that he was fundamentally changed. From that sweet crossover dunk through the middle of the lane during his first game back, to all of the wistful head shakes during poor performances, it was clear that Klay wasn’t ready to relinquish his position at the top - but the Warriors were asking for exactly that.

How did we end up like this?

The reports are already beginning to filter in. But you don’t need to squint too hard at the picture to understand the situation. Golden State had done well to hold the core together as long as they did. Former team President, Bob Myers read the room and dipped. There were numerous changes to the league’s collective bargaining agreement that seemed uniquely targeted towards thwarting the ambitions of Joe Lacob and his vision for a franchise that just paid the tax and offset it via long-term growth in team value.

Gone now are the sweet little exceptions for capped out teams; the mid-level exception and bi-annual exception if you happened to be over the salary apron are off limits to teams over the aprons. That limited the Warriors’ free agent options further. But it was the exponential increase in tax rate - the so-called repeater tax - that is driving a new price consciousness in regards to Golden State’s roster construction. At some point this team had to dip back below the aprons and reset the clock. A nearly impossible feat for a team trying to run two timelines with a nod to young talent retention as well as a top heavy salary structure with four guys each eating up about a third of the salary cap.

After their historic multi-year run, Golden State was staring at the need to cut costs somehow. With only so many fungible peices, there wasn’t a lot of roster parts to shake out in order to get there. According to ESPN’s reporting, that put Klay Thompson (and his contract) front and center for a decision-making process that kept providing the same take-away message to the second Splash Brother: standby. Not yet.

Thompson understood the unspoken message here.

After almost a year of despair, he needed an entirely new experience, sources said. … away from all the history and people he had always known. Two weeks prior, Thompson's camp had made one final offer to the Warriors, a two-year deal for roughly $20 million per season, sources said. The response was the same as it had been for nearly a year: We just can't do it yet.

In any relationship, any job, there’s a continuous exchange of value propositions. Assessing and re-assessing what’s working and what’s valuable. Is it worth it? Am I valued? At some point you’ll have to decide if it’s time to walk away or not. Often, that decision is made before it becomes a fully conscious thing.

The Warriors and Thompson have been nibbling at this juncture for a while now. The big contract renewals for Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole weren't made in a vacuum. It’s not so much that the Warriors were done with Klay, it’s just that they were prepping themselves for that eventuality.

Was the final straw that led to the referenced contract offer above? Saying “not yet” while pursuing other options from the other side of their mouth? The NBA is a callous place, and it shouldn’t be especially surprising that the Warriors were holding Thompson at arms length while trying to shop for a better replacement player. It’s not surprising, it just sucks.

It sucks that Thompson’s last game in a Warriors uniform was an 0-10 stinker against the Sacramento Kings. The same team he torched for 37 points in a quarter nearly a decade ago; but now it was the Warriors that were getting bumped from a play-in tournament. And as Thompson’s stat line and expiring large contract converged with a 34-year old’s free agency foretold, this wasn’t going to be an easy choice - for anyone.

That was the first time the healthy trio core (Green, Curry, Thompson) missed the playoffs in their 12 seasons together. And sadly, the last. Or maybe not so sad? The Warriors made it clear by dangling Thompson out while chasing Paul George - it was time to move on, for better or worse. Thompson just took the step.

We are here mostly because Klay Thompson got us emotionally invested.

“I wouldn’t say I’m nasty, but I’m probably the best NBA player on a skateboard,” says Klay, who grew up near Ladera Ranch Skatepark. “I’m contractually obligated not to skate anymore, but I’ll go out on a limb and say I’ve probably still got it.”

Yes, he’s good. Great even. But he’s also got all the fun Kent Bazemore stuff. The toaster he signed. Game 6 Klay. China Klay. His love for his dog, Rocco. That quote about how Rocco doesn’t care if he wins games or makes threes because he just wants to be his friend. He’s such an odd duck in all the best, pot-smoking and skateboard riding ways.

What? You all know the skateboarding angle right?

Thompson spent a lot of the 2011 NBA lockout skating. As reported in an excellent wide-ranging feature article in Slam, Thompson was a regular at pro, Ryan Sheckler’s private skate park and was reportedly legitimately “nice on a skateboard.”

“There are people that say they can skate, but Klay could really skate, dude,” says Sheckler. “He’s smart, but he’s got no fear. He just lets life happen. That’s one of the reasons he’s so fun to be around.”

And yes, he’s also going down in the history books as one of the best players. Whether or not you agree (or even care about) the NBA all time rankings, the accolades that Thompson has racked up are more than ample to provide a “shut up” eye roll to anyone that ever questions his greatness. Listing them all out together is suitable at this point. There’s more to come in his career, but it still doesn’t feel like a full capture of Thomson’s contributions. This really has been a record-setting run for Klay Thompson and the Warriors.

4× NBA champion: 2015, 2017, 2018, 2022

5× NBA All-Star: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

2× All-NBA Third Team: 2015, 2016

NBA All-Defensive Second Team: 2019

NBA Three-Point Contest champion: 2016

NBA All-Rookie First Team: 2012

NBA three-point field goals leader: 2023

NBA free-throw percentage leader: 2024

NBA regular season record for most points scored in a quarter (37)

NBA regular season record for most three-pointers made in a game (14)

NBA record for most three-pointers made in a single postseason (98, tied with Stephen Curry)

Four NBA championships in six trips to the Finals. Five appearances as an all-star. A whole boatload of memories and records that will likely stand for a good long while. At some point, this wild ride was bound to come to an end. For those of us that grew up watching abomination after roster abomination trotted out while being sold cheap hot dog deals in the upper reaches of Oracle, this era was more than we dared dream of.

Every good story has an emotional ending

Seeing this roster of homegrown stars emerge from spotty rookie year performances was enthralling. Klaynk, we called him. Dude could not hit a layup. His stiff dribble and lack of explosive acceleration were troubling. And then the shots and defense started making rebuttals to any arguments pointed at him. Thompson quickly shone alongside Curry, and the Splash Brothers were born. This is a team that will be talked about for generations. There was the silly, silly heights of the Durant era squads. Teams that looked like something I would have assembled in a video game came to life and dominated. Hell, even when they didn’t dominate, it wasn’t all that concerning. I remember some of us writer whining in the Slack chat Editorial channel that the team was almost too good to write about. No intrigue. No risk.

And Klay was a little extra human. A little bit more real somehow than the other superstars. And man, was this guy inappropriately saucey!

He has his quirks, sure. And while there’s no state income tax in Texas, you definitely can’t take your boat to work in Dallas.

And then, of course, there’s this awesome “what do I do with my hands” picture.

A reduced role and lower salary would have stretched this out for a bit longer, but the Warriors and Thompson’s story ends here, instead.

Not necessarily how I wish it would have ended, but as sad as I am, this doesn’t feel all that wrong. Golden State barely squeezed into the play-in tournament last year and was bounced relatively easily. The frustrations of watching this team struggle were piling up against the collective consciousness of Dub Nation - Klay included.

There’s wisdom in knowing when a story has run it’s natural course. I’m not sure I could have brought myself to let go of the rope, but there’s something that feels inherently right about Klay walking away from this mess now. It’s not lost on me that this article will go live on the 4th of July - the same calendar day that the world learned about Kevin Durant joining the Warriors. The cycle feels complete.

Great memories were made, challenges met (mostly). And now it gets really interesting again. What’s next?