Next season, Klay Thompson won’t only be donning a new jersey, but will also move to a new number. The veteran guard is ditching the #11 he wore for 13 years as a Warrior and will switch to #31 as a Maverick. His former teammate, Draymond Green, used Thompson’s new number to brutally roast one of his former teammates.
Advertisement
During an appearance on the Club 520 Podcast, the Warriors star took a shot at his former teammate Festus Ezeli with a hilarious analogy. While naming the great players who wore #31, the four-time NBA champion mentioned Reggie Miller. He then said,
“And then Festus Ezeli wore 31. Festus tried to go at me on Instagram, like ‘What’s wrong with 31?’ I was like, you wore it.”
When Ezeli tried to clap back at Green claiming that he wears #23, but is nowhere near Michael Jordan, who made the number famous. The Warriors forward agreed that the Bulls icon is a top-two player at worst and levels above him. However, that did not stop him from taking another shot at his former teammate. He said,
“[I told him] The gap between Michael Jordan and me is far smaller than the gap between Klay Thompson and Festus Ezeli.”
Green’s brutal takedown caught the attention of another former Warriors star Mo Speights. The 36-year-old shared the clip of the forward hazing Ezeli on his Instagram stories and captioned it, “@Money23Green [Draymond Green] is wild.” The four-time NBA champion reposted Speights’ story and wrote, “Lmao buckets tell your fellow big man to leave me alone man.”
Draymond Green is such a troll pic.twitter.com/FMiwwtP44V
— What are (W)NBA Celebs Upto? (@NBACelebsUpdate) July 27, 2024
Thompson’s change in jersey number wasn’t by choice. Kyrie Irving dons the #11 in Dallas and he likely wouldn’t have given it up even if his new teammate had asked for it. The veteran guard instead opted for #31 as an homage to Miller, who is one of his idols. During his introductory press conference, he said,
“Reggie Miller wore No. 31. I watched so much footage of Reggie coming off screens as a teenager, especially his ability to make game-winning shots. That is the most inspiring thing to see as a shooter because he had no fear whether he made or missed the shot, he was going to live or die by it.”
He also noted that Jason Terry, who played a crucial role in the Mavericks’ 2011 title win, also wore #31. He hopes to emulate the retired shooting guard in helping bring a championship to Dallas.
When pictures of Thompson holding the #31 jersey first surfaced, Green shared it on his Instagram story with the caption, “31 is nasty work killa.” It’s an unusual sight that might take some time to get used to.
