Getty Drake reacts to a play during the NBA Finals in 2019.
Klay Thompson and Drake are having a showdown on the open seas.
The Golden State Warriors star gave a playful shout-out to the Grammy winner during a live video session as he was driving a boat and tried his hands at one of Drake’s rap songs, and the Canadian rapper responded with his own video poking fun at Thompson in return. The exchange captured some viral attention, and is not the first time that the Warriors star has gotten grief for his love of the nautical life.
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Drake Trolls Klay
On Saturday, Thompson took to share a live stream video of his day out on the boat, talking to fans and at one point trying his best to rap along with Drake’s 2018 song “Mob Ties.” Thompson took a moment to congratulate Drake on being named the Artist of the Decade at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards in May and made reference to his little “beef” with Drake during the 2019 NBA Finals, when the rapper was supporting his hometown Toronto Raptors. As Thompson noted, that was also the last time he has been on an NBA court as he suffered an injury that kept him out of the 2019-20 season and again went down just before the 2020-21 season started with an Achilles tear.
“Shout-out Drake, Artist of the Decade,” Thompson said, via Billboard. “Man, that’s impressive. We had a little beef, we had the city turned up. That’s my last taste of hooch, man. NBA Finals, I miss it. There’s nothing like the finals, yo. Nothing like it.”
Drake responded a few hours later, posting his own video that showed him side-by-side with Thompson where he recreated the video.
The post was a hit, getting more than 1 million likes in just a few hours.
Thompson’s Seaside Style Takes Flack
This was not the first time that Thompson’s love of the water has gotten some viral trolling, as the All-Star also took some flack from his fellow Splash Brother for his nautical style earlier this year. After Thompson hit the locker room back in April wearing a nautical-themed pashmina afghan, Steph Curry shared a video trolling him by singing the song “I’m On A Boat” from the Bay-area comedy trio The Lonely Island.
Steph is loving Klay’s fit 💀
[via @StephenCurry30]
Thompson’s love of the water appears to be quite genuine. Even before the video this weekend showing him driving a boat, Thompson used a smaller watercraft to help his rehab. Back in March, he shared a video that showed him paddling a kayak across the Bay to reach the Chase Center for practice. Thompson was headed to a personal workout, and said he had to take advantage of the beautiful weather to get out on the water.
“It’s a beautiful day, about to yak to practice. It’s nice, no wind, calm waters, sun shining, ain’t no complaints,” Thompson said, via NBC Sports Bay Area.
After rehabbing away from the team the previous season, Thompson opted to stay in the Bay Area this season as he worked his way back from the Achilles injury. That allowed Thompson to stay on the bench during games and remain close with his teammates — even if it did sometimes put him in the crosshairs for critics of his nautical fashion.
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