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| Warriors lobby for Klay Thompson's return after play-in loss |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- As Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson headed to the bench with 2:13 remaining in their play-in game against the Sacramento Kings, his head hung low. He made a round of hugs with team trainers and teammates before he took his seat. After the final buzzer sounded, he took a moment before exiting the court to look back at the Kings lighting the beam.
It was possibly Thompson's last game with the Warriors.
The 118-94 loss to the Kings sent Golden State into its earliest offseason in three years. And it sent Thompson into unrestricted free agency.
"We need Klay back," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. "He's still got good years left. And I know I speak for everybody in the organization: We want him back. ... What Klay has meant to this franchise and as good as he still is, we desperately want him back."
Thompson didn't speak after the game, but at shootaround seven hours before tipoff, he said it wasn't difficult to keep the thoughts of free agency out of his mind as he finished the season.
"That's life," Thompson said. "Had so much success here, I'm not going to let whatever future happens make me salty about what I've been able to accomplish in a Warriors uniform. I don't let that seep in at all."
Thompson's season finale left a lot to be desired, as he was held scoreless on 0-for-10 shooting, including 0-for-6 from 3. It was just the fifth time in Thompson's career he failed to score. It was his second time under Kerr, but the other was when he was ejected 1:43 into a Nov. 23 game against the
It was a performance Kerr said was tough to watch Thompson go through.
"I've watched him the last couple years fighting the feeling of devastation from injuries and I watched him this season flip his season around," Kerr said. "I saw him enjoy the second half of the season and play with a little more freedom and joy, so tonight was tough to see him struggle."
Thompson entered Tuesday's play-in game coming off what he called the "best stretch of basketball of the year." Through the last 4½ weeks of the regular season, Thompson was second on the team in scoring, averaging 21.2 points on 48.1% field goal shooting and 41.2% from 3.
The 77 games he played were his most since the 2018-19 season -- before he tore an ACL and an Achilles.
