(Photo: Chase Stevens / Las Vegas Review Journal)
MENDENHALL CENTER, LAS VEGAS, NV — At first, Klay Thompson might seem reserved and a little unapproachable. He certainly doesn’t yet have the polished camera presence, nor the smiling demeanor of a Harrison Barnes, for example, but in reality he really is quite amenable to opening up and has a very humble quality about him.
Not only does his recent interview back at the start of June this summer at Washington State for the “Cougar Legends” event suggest his reserved nature, but it’s also kind of eerie in many ways: Klay found the Dubs in a similar way that he found the Washington State Cougars.
“I’ve learned to appreciate Pullman. When you leave and go to all these big cities, you appreciate having that peace and quiet. You appreciate the fans, you appreciate the community,” he said, “I picked the perfect school that suited me. I really love it out there. I understand why people say that Pullman grows on you. It really grew on me. I love coming back to visit.”
Further into the Rome interview, Klay echoed similar sentiments with the Warriors, as well as the Bay Area:
“I’m in the perfect situation up in Golden State, you know, we got a budding franchise, a lot of budding stars and it’s going to be a lot of fun. We got the best fans in the NBA, too,” Thompson explained, “The Lakers are a great organization, one of the best in sports, but I don’t want to leave what’s brewing in the Bay Area.”
“I don’t want to leave Golden State. I’ll be happy anywhere, but this is the perfect spot for me. I’m happy I was drafted where I was. It’s a beautiful area. The Bay Area is growing on me. I like it even more than Southern California — I grew up there. So, it’s something new to me. We got amazing fans.”
As you’ll find with most players, they get asked a lot of the same questions, but they’re used to that. At the Drew League, Klay had already said much of the same to LakersNation:
I’m really happy with where I’m at, Golden State we’ve got such a good thing brewing up there, but you know playing for the Lakers, it’d be great… I could (turn down Kobe if he tried to recruit me to the Lakers)… I’d say Kobe, I’m sorry man, we’ve got the Splash Brothers in the bay. Lakers is one of the best organizations in all of sports…but I’m happy with where I’m at, we’ve got such a good thing coming for the next decade.
Klay certainly doesn’t wear his emotions on his sleeves and you probably won’t see him graciously or even heroically acknowledge #Roaracle” all teary-eyed as did Jarrett Jack, but make no mistake. Klay bleeds blue and gold right now and he feels the same way about Oracle’s fans.
He told a group of reporters at the USA mini-camp, myself included, that playing there was like “college on steriods”, referencing the rabidness of college basketball, and that he couldn’t wait to relive those moments as Opening Night approaches, as well as, presumably, the 2014 NBA Playoffs. And once again, you saw those comments echoed on the Jim Rome Show
“It was like a college game on steroids. To have the fans standing, chanting, #LetsGoWarriors twenty minutes before tipoff. You could just see how thirsty they were for some playoff victories. Just for the playoffs. They were happy for us just to be in the first round,” Klay said, “For us to give them some wins, to give them some hope for the future, it was awesome. I can’t wait for next year. I just get chills thinking about that atmosphere on opening night and come playoff time. Some of the best fans in the world are in the Bay Area.”
“I didn’t believe it when I was growing up. I always heard it from the We Believe team, but when I seen it, it was unbelievable.”
Trust me, it’s hard to get Klay to say more than two sentences at once and, sure, Jim Rome has a way with guests that make them feel more comfortable than the average anonymous beatwriter, but for Klay to go off on the Bay and #Roaracle like that should make Warriors fans want to cheer even louder.
We got to talking about the preseason trip to China, where the Warriors will play against the Lakers in Beijing on October 15th, then Shanghai on October 18th.
He proclaimed, “China has a huge basketball following over there. They love their Lakers, but we’re going to go over there and turn some into Warriors fans.”
Look, I know lots of times #DubNation laments Klay’s missed layups and perhaps go too far with the hashtag “#KlayUp” on Twitter, and in jest his play has been called “bipolar”, but how many Warriors players have come out and openly led the torch specifically against the Lakers?
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