Klay Thompson’s Relationship With Warriors Was ‘Fractured to the ‘Point of No’ Return Before Free Agency, Per Zach Lowe

Klay Thompson leaving Golden State will remain one of the biggest shocks of 2024. The disbelief that people experienced was because he was an integral part of the squad that helped build the Warriors dynasty. However, Zach Lowe recently said that their fall off wasn’t a sudden event and that their relationship has been damaged for some time now. During his recent appearance on Get Up, Lowe detailed the events that led to a, pretty much, nonexistent goodwill between Thompson and the Warriors.

Lowe believes the root cause of their differences was the fact that the franchise didn’t show any interest in negotiating his next contract. Meanwhile, they were handing out contracts to other players as Thompson became a bystander. He said,

“I think the relationship was, if not fractured, then so strained to the point of no return by the time Klay Thompson actually reached free agency. There were hard feelings. Klay felt disrespected by the way the Warriors went silent on him.”

"I think the relationship was, if not fractured, so strained to the point of no return by the time Klay Thompson actually reached free agency."@ZachLowe_NBA on Klay departing from Golden State 👀 pic.twitter.com/hwW6YZGiR9

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 4, 2024

However, Thompson signed a five-year, $189.9 million contract with the Warriors in 2019 and was good until 2024. Unfortunately, the four-time NBA champion felt disrespected by the franchise’s ignorance and that trickled down to him becoming a free agent for the first time in his career.

Lowe added that the Warriors might have wanted to see the team’s structure and position in the league in 2024, probably why they held back on negotiating with Thompson.

Interestingly, Lowe isn’t the only person who talked about the disrespect angle in the Thompson situation. His teammate Draymond Green also hinted at something similar. Green stated that he didn’t even try to convince Thompson to stay in Golden State because he saw that his teammate and friend was hurt. So, taking Green up on his word, it seems Lowe has hit the nail on its head with his assessment.

Why did Klay Thompson sign with the Mavs for less money?

When the conversation reaches this point, it’s rarely about the money involved. The Klay Thompson-Warriors situation is no different. But for the sake of evaluating his decision, the Warriors were willing to offer him a two-year, $48 million deal.

In contrast, the Mavs deal that he agreed to is for three-year, $50 million, with a player option. So, in reality, Thompson would be making less money in Dallas than he would’ve if he stayed with the Warriors.

On a recent episode of his podcast, Stephen A. Smith provided an interesting take on this situation. He said that one of the reasons why Thompson left the Warriors and also declined the offer from the Lakers was due to taxes. Now that he will live in Texas, he won’t have to pay an outrageous sum in tax. In addition, he also noted that the four-time NBA champion wanted a change, and, in that equation, the Mavericks seemed like his best choice.