Steph Curry didn’t bite when Klay Thompson tried to turn Thursday night into a little reunion roast.
After Thompson joked before the Warriors-Heat matchup, “It’s fun to beat up on old friends,” Curry answered the only way he really needed to: on the floor, and then with a grin afterward. Golden State rolled past Miami 120-100, with Curry piling up a game-high 29 points and 14 of them coming in the third quarter as the Warriors stretched their win streak to six.
The game was tied at halftime, but Miami looked worn down in the second half after beating the Clippers in overtime the night before. Curry and the Warriors took control from there, and the result probably felt a little extra satisfying with Thompson on the other side.
When asked about Thompson’s comment, Curry mostly waved it off.
“The only conversations we've had are the Davidson Wildcats beating the Washington State Cougars and me getting the best end of that bet. So, that was cool,” Curry said, when asked whether Thompson’s comment gave him extra motivation.
“But [as] champions and what we’ve accomplished, it’s really easy to separate the friendship, the history with the battles out there. So you don’t need to talk about it as much, just comes out of us when we get out there on the floor, and I’m sure that’s what people love to watch.”
That was about as sharp as Curry got. He wasn’t interested in making Thompson’s jab into a bigger thing, even after the Heat star had leaned into the moment following Miami’s 117-116 win over the Clippers.
“Hopefully I can continue to stay afloat because I made a lot of buckets in that building,” Thompson said of returning to Chase Center. “It's fun to beat up on old friends so that would be awesome to come away with a back-to-back win.”
Curry’s response fit the tone of where things stand now: less edge, more acknowledgment. He and Thompson are no longer the inseparable Splash Brothers who once defined an era in Golden State.
Thompson left in July 2024 after an angsty split tied to his feeling that he had been pushed aside by the organization. An ESPN report by Anthony Slater and Tim MacMahon said Thompson felt “deprioritized” and believed he was “pushed out in a strategic manner” during the final months of his 11-year run with the Warriors.
Thompson eventually headed to Dallas for a fresh start, and the old partnership was over. The distance between them only seemed to grow after that.
Curry even found out Thompson had not exactly been eager to stay in touch before a game against Thompson’s Mavericks in November 2024. As Draymond Green put it on his podcast: “Klay ghosted him.
So he got pissed,”
Curry made that homecoming memorable in his own way, scoring 37 points and closing out a 120-117 Warriors win by scoring Golden State’s final 12 points.
Thursday was the seventh time Curry and Thompson have faced each other since Thompson left Golden State, and the Warriors now hold a 4-3 edge in those meetings. It was also Thompson’s first game against Curry as a member of the Heat.
Even with all that history, Curry sounded more reflective than bitter after the latest matchup. Thompson had just reminded everyone a night earlier of the old Klay with a buzzer-beating game-winner in overtime against the Clippers, and Curry made sure to appreciate it.
“I texted Draymond right after [Klay’s buzzer-beater] and just told him, ‘Killer Klay it's always great to see him having fun,’” Curry said. “...
It’s still surreal playing against him, it’s always going to be that way ‘cause we’ve gone through so many battles together. And it’s kinda cool, even at this stage, to guard him... you’ve been on the other side of it for so long, so there’s an appreciation there.
“I think mostly it’s just an excitement of the fact that we’re still able to have battles, and every one that you get is one closer to the end.”
Curry has also left the door open, at least in theory, for Thompson to end his career back in Golden State. He previously said he expected a ceremonial one-day contract for Thompson, and a year ago called the idea of a reunion “unbelievable,” while still sounding open to it.
“If that time comes and that conversation is had, of course I’m calling him and saying, ‘We want you back,’” Curry said of Thompson possibly returning to the Warriors. “And hopefully that would be a welcome message to him.
As we stand right now, that does seem like a far distant reality. But so did him leaving.”
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