The still-surreal addition of Kevin Durant this summer doesn’t take away the sting from the Golden State Warriors’ historic collapse in the 2016 NBA Finals, according to Klay Thompson.
The Dubs’ tremendous good fortune in landing the planet’s most leathal scorer has been everyone’s focus, but Thompson says letting the championship slip through their fingers will hurt for a very long time.
Klay Thompson opens up about Team USA and that one new guy on the Warriors https://t.co/XzNnbDz3Dp pic.twitter.com/SssSXuP2Id
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) August 19, 2016
The All-Star guard is tired of talking about his super-squad and can’t wait to get out on the floor and show what they’re made of.
Per GQ:
Are you tired of answering questions about next season yet?
Thompson: “Yes. Yes. I just want to go out there and prove to people how great we can be. Everyday at the media session here I have to answer questions about it. ‘Oh, how’s the chemistry between you three.’ Everyday… But it’s part of the territory. I just give some automated answers. I can be pretty robotic. There’s a lot of hype surrounding the franchise now, and deservedly so. It’s part of our job, we have to answer those questions.”
The way the NBA Finals ended, it was so disappointing for you guys. But then you add Kevin Durant, and there’s this level of excitement about what you guys can do next season. Does one feeling outweigh the other right now?
Thompson: “We added Kevin and I couldn’t be more excited about our future and what could happen, but it’ll take a long time to get over that loss, man. It was hard. Especially being up 3-1, and how good we felt like we were, we controlled our own destiny and we didn’t get it done. But that’s life, it’s basketball, it wasn’t in the cards. It’s going to take a long time to get over that, man. You always think about the one possession that could have changed it. It came down to the last three minutes for us to be back-to-back champions. […] Give Cleveland credit: They never gave up, but it’s only going to make us stronger. I’m not going to say [the disappointment] outweighs getting Kevin, because it’s two completely different circumstances. It’s still fresh in my mind to be honest and it will be until we get that opportunity again.”
