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Lacob shares candid reaction to Klay’s ‘unfortunate’ Warriors exit originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Like the majority of Dub Nation, Warriors owner Joe Lacob is having a hard time processing Klay Thompson’s departure from the Bay.
Lacob joined The Athletic’s “Hoops Adjacent” podcast with Marcus Thompson and David Aldridge and shared his honest feelings about losing a franchise icon and how he is trying to come to terms with the team’s new reality.
“It is very difficult, to be very honest,” Lacob said. “I think everyone knows and I’ve stated it a number of times that we really wanted our Big Three to remain Warriors for life and retire at the same time. It would have been an amazing accomplishment in this day and age. Who stays with their teams anymore? I grew up, and you guys probably too, that’s what you looked forward to, you knew who was going to be on your team every year.
“That was a cool thing. That was a part of fandom, the good parts of fandom.”
But what once seemed like an obvious fairytale ending for Steph Curry, Draymond Green and Thompson slowly turned into a bitter and abrupt chapter closed for Thompson and the Warriors.
After 13 seasons with Golden State, Thompson decided to join forces with Luka Dončić, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks this summer via a sign-and-trade deal involving six teams.
Lacob reportedly played a major role in the team’s inability to meet eye to eye with Thompson during contract negotiations, intentionally having poor communication in an interesting yet unsuccessful game with the Splash Bro.
But the “chess not checkers” approach didn’t work on Thompson, and the peculiar strategy eventually backfired.
Despite all this, Lacob expressed his close relationship with the four-time NBA champion, and he forever is grateful for being able to get so close to a player who doesn’t allow many to do so.
“I’m close to Klay, I would like to think,” Lacob said. “He’s a harder person to get close to than some other guys because he lives a pretty private life, but then again the public parts are pretty fun. He has a way of entertaining people, people really love him. And I love him…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/lacob-shares-candid-reaction-klays-214423878.html
Author : NBC Sports BayArea
Publish date : 2024-07-16 21:44:23
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