Klay Thompson wanted a low-key homecoming for the Warriors, but a warm embrace could help heal wounds

SAN FRANCISCO – Klay Thompson wanted none of the pomp and circumstance.

The Warm welcome from around 400 Warriors employees who met him on the Dallas Mavericks team bus on Tuesday and cheered him on as he walked to the visitors' locker room at that familiar Chase Center. The sailor caps, inspired by his passion for boating and worn by everyone from Warriors owner Joe Lacob to the rest of the sellout crowd of 18,064, ensured his incredible legacy was honored. Stephen Curry's pregame speech, which Thompson revealed was cut when the Splash Brothers exchanged text messages the night before and decided to leave it out of the script.

According to league sources, Thompson's message to his old team before the night of celebration was that less is more. But the Warriors, determined to pay tribute in first-class fashion to the huge role he played in their dynastic run, pulled out all the stops anyway. This reunion game, in which the Warriors went to such great lengths to honor 13 years of shared memories, was bound to be uncomfortably ironic.

Here were Golden State officials who tried so hard to give its storied past due respect, only to be met with a lukewarm response that served as a reminder that perceived disrespect for its future was the root cause bitter basketball divorce. Unless Lacob finds a way to put the two of them in a time machine and go back in time to two summers ago, and then commits to keeping the Warriors' celebrated trio together by giving Thompson the same four-year, $100 million contract, that he gave to Draymond Green, then those wounds would have to remain open.

At least it seemed that way.

Curry's late upset scuppered Thompson's plans for a revenge game. The Warriors won 120-117 after Curry buried the Mavs in video game form in those wildly entertaining final minutes. Still, it was pretty clear that healing had taken place between both sides. And as Thompson stood at the podium after the game, having hit six 3s en route to 22 points, but surely lamenting his missed 3 with 89 seconds left, the tone he had behind the scenes had changed had struck this emotional matter, changed the better.

“It was a really cool experience,” he said of the evening, which also included something else a video tribute. “I really appreciate the fans. The captain's hat was a great touch since I'm such an avid boater. I saw many familiar faces in the crowd. That was a warm feeling. It's been really cool to see fans being grateful towards me and that's something I don't take for granted. It's very, very great.

“It was a cool moment, feeling the energy of the fans, and especially, you know, all the talk I heard – it was all positive.” (That) just means a lot to me because of my time here really enjoyed it and…left everything on the floor.”

The staff greeting before the game, in particular, was a special touch that some in Thompson's circle had hoped would, like the Curry speech, be left out of the program. But as Thompson later said, the gesture had the desired effect.

“That was really cool,” he said. “I am very grateful to the staff for showing me this kind of love. Completely unexpected and definitely put a smile on my face. I’ll never forget that.”

Regardless of the context, Thompson's willingness to express his warm feelings toward the Warriors organization signaled a thawing of the iciness in that relationship, which is only right given the overall history between them. Beyond the four titles, five all-star appearances and Countless good times in betweenThere was a special bond between Klay and the Bay that cannot be properly maintained if friction remains. And while the disagreement over how his contract situation was handled certainly remains, with Thompson believing he should have received the same treatment as Green and the Warriors citing his devastating injury tenure as justification for their more measured approach, the loving one brought Post-game scene shows signs of a real reconciliation that should only get better from here.

Thompson first hugged Warriors coach Steve Kerr and then was hugged by Curry. Next came longtime Warriors coach Rick Celebrini, then Andrew Wiggins, Trayce-Jackson Davis, Moses Moody, various staff members, Green, fellow Bahamian and successor Buddy Hield, Warriors assistant Chris DeMarco, Gary Payton II and co- Coach Bruce Fraser. It's unclear whether Thompson had any connection to Lacob, but there comes a point in this post-Warriors saga where that kind of subplot no longer really matters.

“The Warriors have done an incredible job honoring him,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, a Bay Area native who attended Cal and knows well the passion of these local fans.

In other words, the Warriors' mission was accomplished with a win as they improved to an unexpected record of 9-2.

Anyone who knows Thompson well knows he probably didn't sleep much after that. Curry's 37-point performance overshadowed Thompson's dynamic night, with No. 30 celebrating the victory as if he were still on his way to a gold medal with Team USA and not in a mid-November NBA affair. With a feeling of appreciation, Thompson left the hall, throwing his headband into the stands as he made his way down the tunnel before being greeted by a long line of admirers.

Andre Iguodala, his legendary running mate on the Warriors and current executive director of the National Basketball Players Association, visited the Mavericks' locker room before the game and also returned for a postgame conversation. Kirk Lacob, the Warriors' executive vice president of basketball operations, was also waiting, as was Zaza Pachulia, the former Warriors big man and current basketball-business liaison.

For his part, Thompson inevitably turned to the next basketball challenge at hand. His Mavericks are now just 5-6, and the Luka Dončić-Kyrie Irving-Thompson trio is still finding its way in a competitive Western Conference that needs to be won. As the nostalgia wore off and all those Warriors years became irrelevant to the task ahead, he looked forward.

“We had about four games this year that could have gone either way,” Thompson said. “That game really hurt when I was seven (points) ahead with four minutes left. We watch the film and get better. But I'm really proud of how this team continues to fight. We're still getting to know each other and I keep telling the guys that going through these things early in the season is better than Game 60. So I know we have a chance to be great. We just have to stay the course.”

Of course he would know. There is a past basketball life in which his outstanding play sparked an annual rise to the top of the NBA. The Warriors cherish these days and want to ensure they are not forgotten. And if Tuesday night was any indication, so is Thompson.

(Photo: Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)