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Draymond Green doesn’t appear to be a big fan of Klay Thompson’s new jersey number with the Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavs officially introduced Thompson on Tuesday, July 9 and unveiled his new jersey — No. 31. It’s a shift from the No. 11 he wore during a dynastic run with the Golden State Warriors. That number is occupied by current Mavs guard Kyrie Irving.
Green responded to the shift from Thompson on social media, reposting a photo with the caption, “31 is nasty work killa.”
Various theories floated around Thompson’s decision on his new number. But the five-time All-Star had a simple explanation.
“Well, Kyrie took my number. No, I’m just kidding. It’s a change for me. I’m not mad at the change, I’m actually excited for it,” Thompson said. “There’s been a lot of great 31s in this franchise’s history. Jason Terry won a championship wearing that number, and we play very similar styles as far as the off-guard position, spacing the floor, shooting. He had a great year with them.”
Thompson also mentioned Reggie Miller as a source of inspiration when choosing the number.
“I watched so much footage of Reggie coming off screens as a teenager,” Thompson said. “Especially his ability to make game-winning shots. That is the most inspiring thing to see as a shooter because he had no fear whether he made or missed the shot, he was going to live or die by it. I still have that image of him in the East finals pushing off [Michael Jordan], curling off the right wing and cashing that 3 [pointer].”
Draymond Green Tearful Over Klay Thompson Leaving Warriors
Green, Thompson, and Stephen Curry formed the core of the Warriors dynasty. The trio won four titles together and established themselves as franchise legends.
But the era ended this offseason with Thompson agreeing to a three-year, $50 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Green admitted on his podcast that seeing Thompson leave wasn’t easy.
“I don’t really know how I feel about it. Klay told us last week. I don’t know who all he told but I know he talked to me, pretty sure he talked to Steph last week,” Green said. “When Klay told me I was just able to listen. And it wasn’t like a ‘Yo, we could finish like this’ or like ‘you should rethink this.’ It was just like, wow. Like, all right. Congrats, bro. I’m happy for you. That’s dope.
“I reassured him this changes nothing for us, you know. It changes the basketball court, obviously, but the relationships — they are what they are. They are forever. I think I might have dropped a couple tears.”
Curry delivered a similar sentiment on Thompson’s departure.
“It’s one of those hard things to kind of process just because I never imagined this would kind of be the reality,” Curry said on July 7. “I always wanted to ride out in the sunset with those two guys and have an opportunity to stay relevant from a winning perspective while we did it.”
Thompson Ready to Move on With Mavericks
Thompson will be wearing a new jersey for the first time in his NBA career when he suits up with the Mavericks next season. While the breakup with the Warriors initially stung, Thompson has his sights set on his new goal with a Dallas team that just made an NBA Finals appearance.
“I was watching just as a basketball fan, and I did see, like, ‘Man, I could really help this team. They’re right there,’” Thompson said. “Not big adjustments, but just very little adjustments from getting over the top. We’re knocking on the door, and that’s what really got me excited to be here.”
Thompson is not the only new piece for the Mavs. Dallas also added free agent forward Naji Marshall on a $27 million, three-year deal and snagged Quentin Grimes from Detroit in a trade.
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