Depression is a strange thing.
Those who know me are aware I’ve battled depression for as long as I can remember. It has its way of scaling up and down, often at random. The milder times feel like carrying a rock in your pocket. It’s there, you’re aware of it, but it’s not cumbersome. More moderate times feel like a full backpack on your shoulders like you’re trudging through the backcountry, only you’re just going to get coffee, see friends, walking your dog.
The worst times feel like being put in a straitjacket. When it hits me hardest, there are days when I can barely move. I am pinned down in my bed like an invisible elephant is sitting on my chest.
There are ways for me to shake it—exercise, socializing, reading, distraction in any form. When the crushing weight of existence destroys my will to move, I watch things that comfort me. Movies and shows I’ve watched a hundred times can work, but more often than not it’s videos of old NBA performances.
In crisis over relationships? Klay Thompson‘s 37 points in one quarter were there for me. Overwhelming anxiety about work? Hello, 60 points in 29 minutes. Dread covering me like a shroud? Fire up Game 6 Klay.
Klay Thompson was more to me than just a guy playing on a team I watch. His best days helped me through my worst. I want to share that feeling with the world.
After speculation for years over which of this big three would leave, it’s finally happening. Klay is leaving for greener pastures after hitting a point of no return with Golden State’s ownership and management. I won’t lie, the prospect of seeing him in another jersey makes me extremely sad. God forbid that jersey is purple and gold.
I don’t want to dwell on the question of who is at fault for this rough divorce, what comes after, or how the fans are responding (hint: poorly!). Instead, I want to celebrate all we got from 13 years of Klay Thompson.
A Weird, Aloof, Lovable Guy
On the court, Klay Thompson was dialed in. Competitive as hell, ready to talk trash, always giving maximum effort.
Off the court? More or less a walking, talking, and boating 90s stoner comedy come to life. Like Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Dazed & Confused had a love child.
You want thoughts on scaffolding around New York? Klay had them.
A guy having the best time of his life in China on a shoe tour? Klay did that.
Hilarious things also just seemed to happen to and around Klay. He didn’t even try that hard to be funny, but laughs followed him around. Interviews where he seemed to forget how to speak or hit with incredible double entendres. The casual beer sip heard around the world. And who can forget the toaster?
Not only did the toaster bring much-needed levity to a weird first season of the Kevin Durant Warriors, the run after the toaster signing became legend on Warriors Twitter. The Dubs rattled off a 31-2 record to close the year, including a 16-1 postseason and the man who handed Klay the famous toaster ended up on top of a bus at the championship parade a few months later.
His actions were constantly hilarious. How did Klay respond to his heartbreaking ACL tear? Getting stoned and throwing rocks at trees. What other player would drive a boat to work every day the way Klay did? Or go live on Instagram while doing so?
It wasn’t just the random side quests he was on outside of basketball. Klay’s basketball quotes were also exceptional. Once asked by NBS Sports reporter Kerith Burke why he was so happy after a game, he said “I scored 43 points. Would you be happy, Kerith?”. Words to live by right there. After a championship parade, a reporter asked him how he was feeling. His response? “I’m tired and I want a sandwich”.
That also brings us to the other side of Klay’s personality that I love.
Consummate Competitor
There’s a story Shaun Livingston tells that has always stuck with me. During Golden State’s first championship season, Klay rolled his ankle and couldn’t play in a regular season game against Phoenix, ending in their first loss after a 5-0 start. Thompson spoke to the team after the game, apologizing for missing the game and beating himself up about the pride he feels toward his availability.
The vets told him hey, if you’re ruled out you’re ruled out. Don’t get bent out of shape over that. Klay responded like the iron man he is, playing in the next 56 games. He also went 3-0 in games played against the Suns after that for good measure.
He was the rare competitor who always took the blame. You rarely see him complain to the refs, chide other teammates, challenge his coaches. By and large his response to a bad performance is “I have to be better”. And when he was better, few got more fired up by their own performances.
Klay also loved to celebrate for his teammates, and it often showed in goofy ways.
It’s hard to not laugh at how dumb that looks, but it’s perfect Klay. Don’t overthink it, just follow instinct, no matter how silly it may seem.
That need to follow instinct showed up in his trash talking as well. Thompson never hesitated to talk some mess at his opponents, and it often backfired in comical fashion. He took an incredible shot across the brow at Rodney McGruder, only to see Golden State sign Rodney two years later. Guess he wasn’t about to be out of the league.
There’s the infamous four rings incident with Devin Booker, which Klay himself admitted on Paul George‘s podcast was not his proudest moment in the league. That kind of behavior is what endears me to Klay; people lose control of their emotions from time to time, but how you react after is the best judge of character. To sit there and admit “yes, that was dumb” is a rare quality in any person, let alone a professional athlete.
The ultimate competitive moment of his career came against the Toronto Raptors in what would be the final game played at Oracle Arena. Golden State had their backs against the wall, needing to win to force Game 7. Thompson, already playing hurt, was scorching for 28 points on 8/12 shooting in a neck-and-neck game when Klay went down with an ugly knee injury. What did he do about it? Calmly knocked down his two free throws on a torn ACL. That’s the epitome of giving it all for your team.
I’d be remiss going through this piece without linking my favorite Klay performances because he is indeed a basketball player, not just a hilarious guy. So here are the clips that guided me through the aforementioned tough times.
Wherever Klay ends up in free agency, they’re getting an elite personality and competitor who can still knock down threes with the best of them.
Klay Thompson’s Warriors career is in the past like a ponytail. Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because we got to see 11 seasons of the purest stroke in basketball go to work, hit clutch shots, lock up, and win. Then win again. And again. And again.
Peace out, sticks. Klaytheism forever.
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