Back when Klay Thompson made his NBA debut in 2011, very few envisioned just how much he would impact basketball as a whole. The Golden State Warriors’ first-round pick torched the perimeter line along with his splash bro, Steph Curry, and now, more than a decade later, he can look back on it and reflect on just how much he has learned and grown.
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Klay spent 13 years with the Warriors before leaving for the Dallas Mavericks last season. He’s regarded a legend in Bay Area, having helped them to four NBA titles, creating a special dynasty. But before all the glory, there was a period of learning. And that was also before Head Coach Steve Kerr came onto the scene.
Thompson’s first coach in the Warriors was Mark Jackson, who set the foundations before the success rolled in. Five-time NBA champ Michael Cooper, in a podcast with Thompson, recently asked him how life was at the Warriors back then.
Thompson, surprisingly, admitted that there was a lot of joy before the Warriors started dominating the NBA. “There was not a target on your back,” he said. “Expectation wasn’t as high, but you were just trying to figure it out.”
It was during Jackson’s time at the helm that the Warriors established their core, comprising of Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green. They weren’t the superstars that the NBA community knows them as today. It was Jackson who molded them together into something extraordinary. “I got lucky to play for a great coach at the time in Mark Jackson, who instilled so much confidence in myself and Steph and Dray and Harrison Barnes,” Thompson added.
“We were a young team, a young core, but we knew we could do something special if we just stuck together & we stuck it out,” he continued.
Klay on early GSW yrs & learning how to win: “I got lucky to play for a great coach at the time in Mark Jackson who instilled so much confidence in myself & Steph & Dray & HB. We were a young team, a young core, but we knew we could do something special if we just stuck together… pic.twitter.com/8RfyS6zaYF
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) August 31, 2025
Barnes, of course, didn’t go on to become a Warriors legend, leaving the Bay in 2016 after just one title triumph. But Steph, Klay, and Draymond formed one of the most formidable trios the league had ever seen. They went on to win three more championships and might have had even more if Klay hadn’t suffered knee and Achilles injuries in 2019 and 2020, respectively.
Regardless, Klay has had a career he can look back at with pride. Especially his early days, is something he holds fondly in his memory, as he revealed to Cooper. “Those first few years were some of my favorite memories, especially being in the league and playing against Kobe and all the guys I watched growing up, Tim Duncan, Dirk,” he tapered off.
Klay and Steph formed the most devastating backcourt duo of all time, with Green doing the dirty work defensively. The Splash Bros, along with their enforcer, terrorised the league for a stretch of nearly half a decade.
Now in Dallas, Klay is trying to write another chapter in his storied career. Whether he retires with another championship under his belt or not remains to be seen, but the #11 of the 35-year-old will surely go up in the rafters at Chase Center someday.
