Getty Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors.
Klay Thompson‘s mental lapse late in the game doomed the Golden State Warriors in their 130-125 loss to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, February 14, at Chase Center.
But the Valentine’s Day loss became more heartbreaking when Thompson ignored Steph Curry, who was trying to console him after committing an ill-advised foul with 39 seconds remaining and the Warriors were just trailing by 3.
These Warriors reactions to Klay’s late-game foul 😬
Warriors coach Steve Kerr was in disbelief. Rookie Brandin Podziemski, who had just drained a corner 3-pointer to give the Warriors a shot at potentially tying the game and sending it to overtime, mirrored his coach’s reaction.
“It’s obvious [we didn’t have to foul,” Kerr later told reporters after the jarring loss. “Defend and just play it out and get a rebound and then it’s a one-possession game.”
But the veteran Thompson made the uncharacteristic mistake. The mental lapse capped Thompson’s bad shooting night. He missed 10 of 14 shots, finishing with 12 points and was a minus-7 in 30 minutes.
Curry shielded his Splash brother from warranted criticism and owned the Warriors’ fourth-quarter collapse where they coughed up a 14-point lead.
“It started with my turnover and they got an and-1 [play],” Curry told reporters, “then every possession felt a little congested offense and then that fed into our defense. Definitely, it didn’t help the situation at all. We gave up too many corner 3s and too many offensive rebounds. It was just a quick momentum change that they took advantage of.”
Steph Curry Talks About Warriors Failed Trade for LeBron James
Curry alluded to reporters that it’s a normal routine for front offices to poke around and check who’s available via trade for roster upgrades. And his rival, LeBron James, represents a massive upgrade for them.
“I’m never surprised [about our team inquiring],” Curry told reporters after the Warriors dropped a 130-125 heartbreaker to the Kawhi Leonard-less Los Angeles Clippers on February 14. “It’s always a surprise that stuff like that gets out because I’m assuming that every team is making calls that if every fan or every fan base or media group would know about, it would maybe normalize the conversations that happen in the front office, especially around the trade deadline when you’re exploring around the league who’s available, who’s not and gauging interest on that. So, obviously, a guy like Bron who you would probably call just to see [if he’s available]. I don’t know what the depths of those conversations were but that was a nice little surprise this [Wednesday] morning for sure.”
What Warriors Pursuit of LeBron James Meant for Klay Thompson
A James trade would also mean Thompson won’t remain with the Warriors one way or another.
Either he would have gone out in the trade as the matching salary or the Warriors could not be able to re-sign him this summer if Andrew Wiggins and Chris Paul are the outgoing salaries.
After a back-and-forth between the Lakers and Warriors owners Jeanie Buss and Joe Lacob and James’ agent Rich Paul within the final 24 hours of the trade deadline, the conversation ended and did not even reach exchanging trade ideas, according to the ESPN report.
James remains a Laker. Thompson remains a Warrior for the time being.