With the 2024-25 NBA schedule now released, former Golden State Warrior Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks will play the team he won four NBA championships with three times during the regular season.
The first matchup will take place at the Chase Center on November 12th, which also happens to be the two teams' opening game of the NBA Cup regular season tournament.
"We are all gonna have that date circled when he comes back to Chase, and that will be one of the strangest, most emotional nights of all of our careers for sure," said Steve Kerr.
The Warriors and Mavericks will play two more times in February, first in Dallas and then one more game in Golden State, but the first time Thompson returns to the Chase Center will be a night for Warriors fans to remember.
Golden State played a tribute video for Jordan Poole when he returned to the Bay last year. Poole only played four seasons with the team, winning one NBA title. Thompson was a member of the organization for thirteen years and will one day have his jersey hanging in the rafters.
Warriors' fans will almost certainly welcome Thompson back with some of the loudest cheers the building will hear all season. The team should play tribute videos for the five-time All-Star during every break, as there is no shortage of memories the two created. His former teammates, led by Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, will no doubt show him the utmost respect pre- and post-game.
There should be no hard feelings from anyone associated with the franchise on a night when the two sides celebrate their time together. The Warriors will one day honor Thompson in a more formal way, but the first time he returns as a member of another team will be the most sentimental.