Getty (From left to right) Tennis legend Roger Federer, Nicole Curran, Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob, and poker pro Phil Hellmuth sit court side during the second quarter of the game between the San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors.
Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson felt sorry they could not pull off the win against the Western Conference-worst San Antonio Spurs during Roger Federer’s visit at Chase Center.
“Roger is a great person,” Thompson told reporters after their 126-113 loss to the Spurs on Saturday, March 9. “I met him in Shanghai in 2018 and he’s just super down-to-earth, especially with all the success he’s had, he doesn’t have to be and he’s just a really cool guy and I watched him my whole life growing up it was awesome to have him in the building. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get a win for him.”
The tennis legend was in San Francisco to grace the announcement of the eighth edition of the Laver Cup, which Federer has organized in honor of tennis great Rod Laver.
Chase Center, the Warriors’ home arena, will host the event on September 19-21.
Federer sat courtside with Warriors owner Joe Lacob and was treated to a disastrous performance from the home team.
“But it was just cool to be in the presence of greatness and he’s just such a humble likable person and it was awesome to see him here in San Francisco,” Thompson said.
Life Without Steph Curry
Thompson’s 27 points off the bench were not enough to lead the Warriors to a victory without his “Splash Brother” Stephen Curry, who was out with a right ankle injury.
“Well Steph makes our life easier,” Thompson told reporters. “Because he demands attention attention and for myself when I’m out there, I don’t try to put more pressure on myself. I just rather be myself and shoot open shots and create shots as well as make the basketball play.”
Thompson did exactly that, hitting 5-of-10 from downtown. But he rued his performance on the defensive end his carelessness.
“I mean tonight was unfortunate. I got myself in foul trouble and had three turnovers,” Thompson said. “That’s inexcusable and I’ll be better Monday.”
The Warriors looked a lot better in the second half with their spacing when coach Steve Kerr made his adjustment, starting him with Jonathan Kuminga.
Kuminga scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half as Thompson’s shooting gravitated the Spurs defense which gave him more open lanes to attack the rim.
Kerr will likely start Thompson when they meet again on Monday, March 11, at San Antonio with Curry still out.
Warriors’ Poor Start
The Warriors’ lackadaisical start doomed them against a Spurs team missing their top two players — No.1 pick Victor Wembanyama (right ankle injury) and Devin Vassell (left hip contusion).
The starting lineup of Chris Paul, rookies Brandin Podziemski and Trayce Jackson-Davis, Draymond Green and Kuminga looked good defensively, holding the Spurs to only nine points in the first five minutes of the game.
But the problem was they couldn’t also manufacture points with their cramped spacing.
“My main motivation for the starting lineup was to get off to a great defensive start,” Kerr told reporters after the jarring loss that nailed them at 10th spot in the West with 19 games left. “I
wanted to set a tone with a really good defensive lineup. See how we could score.”
No Warriors starter scored more than five points in the first half.