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After months of listening to analysts and fans cast doubt on whether the Golden State Warriors were really good enough to be title contenders, Klay Thompson had a strong message on Thursday.
Thompson helped the Warriors close out the Boston Celtics in Game 6, giving Golden State its fourth title over the last eight seasons. It marked the end of a long and often grueling journey for Thompson, who missed two-and-a-half years after suffering back-to-back major injuries and endured a difficult rehab process.
But Thompson never doubted whether he could come back and never doubted this season that the Warriors could jump back into title contention. After the win on Thursday, he delivered a message for all those who did.
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Thompson Calls out Doubters
After the Warriors fell to the bottom of the NBA in the 2019-20 season and again failed to make the playoffs the next season, there were plenty of pundits ready to declare that the Warriors dynasty had come to an end. But not Thompson, especially after the Warriors got off to a hot start to this season.
“People called me crazy. I said championship or bust because I saw how we came out of the gates,” Thompson said after Game 6. “I knew we had a chance to do something special, and here we are. It’s so incredible. Wow.”
Thompson said he found a way to turn those doubts into motivation, holding tightly to the memories of everyone who counted the Warriors out.
“A lot of chatter. A lot of doubters. But you know what, you just put that in your fuel tank and you just keep going. And it does definitely hit different,” Thompson said. “I’ve got a memory like an elephant. I don’t forget. There were a lot of people kicking us down.”
Back at the Top
It wasn’t just Thompson who endured a lot over the last three years. Teammate Steph Curry was alongside him for the disappointment in the 2019 NBA Finals and missed nearly all of the next season with a hand injury, watching from the sidelines as the Warriors finished last in the NBA.
But Curry said after Thursday’s win that the hardships he and the team endured only made this title that much sweeter.
“This one is definitely different because of the three years of baggage we carried coming out of that Game 6 in 2019,” Curry said. “I can say it now, I don’t know how many teams could carry that as long as we have with the expectations of comparing us now to teams of past and make it to the mountaintop again.”
The win may have meant even more for Curry, who added the only accomplishment that had eluded him during his Hall of Fame career, an NBA Finals MVP. Curry scored 30 or more points in each of the final three games as the Warriors turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 series win.
After hoisting the NBA Finals MVP trophy, Curry echoed Thompson in saying they proved the doubters wrong.
“What they gonna say now?” Curry told Andscape’s Marc Spears, via ESPN. “[You] hear all the talk about you as a player and us as a team, nobody outside of the Bay Area thought we would be here last October when the season started. Me as a player, obviously this Finals MVP stuff and all that, knew [we were] good enough to win three championships before.”
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