Steph Curry won’t call Klay Thompson a teammate for the first time in more than 13 years. The Splash Brothers redefined basketball in their time together and their names will forever be etched together in history.
Curry, however, now needs a backcourt partner to replace the Klay-sized hole. The obvious choice should be Buddy Hield, whom the Golden State Warriors added over the offseason.
During Golden State’s Media Day, Steph Curry was asked about his fit with Hield, keeping in mind how the latter has a similar offensive profile with that of Klay Thompson. Curry said (18:02):
“I mean, we'll figure that out," Curry said. "It's on the list of many things to kind of work through when it comes to, again, the openness of how we're going to play. ...But for Buddy, he just shoots the ball. You shoot open shots, you play within the system, be a threat to score whenever he's out there, and that'll solve itself.
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"Obviously we need a defensive mindset as well when it comes to all five guys, no matter who you're out there with. But play a couple pickup sessions with him. ... He's confident in his game, and we need that, because that's such a valued commodity in the league. ... So I'm not too worried about that, but it's on the list of all the things we have to figure out as a team to put it all together.”
As Steph Curry pointed out, while Buddy Hield should be a natural offensive fit, he might need to work on his defense. In his prime, Klay Thompson was one of the best two-way players in the league. Whether Hield can at least recreate some part of it, remains to be seen.
Steph Curry spoke about how Klay Thompson leaving Warriors hadn’t "sunk in" yet
The first few days after Klay Thompson left the Warriors were the worst for Golden State fans. Apparently, it was the same for Steph Curry. In a July interview with Yahoo, he said:
“Not having Klay man, it still hasn't really sunk in, just because you've been doing it for 13 years together. And you know, (Warriors coach Steve Kerr) made a joke. He's like, 'Sometimes you can't really find Klay in the offseason, and you don't really hear from him as much, and then he shows up at training camp ready to go.'
"I kind of have this idea that October, he'll still (show up) like, ‘Hey guys, what's up?’ But I know it's not happening.”
It’s almost October, and Klay didn’t show up as he begins his new journey in Dallas.
