Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Warriors
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Klay Thompson #31 of the Dallas Mavericks hugs former teammate Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors after their game at Chase Center on November 12, 2024 in San Francisco, California.
Some separations don’t fully register right away.
Even for Stephen Curry, it still comes in waves.
More than a year after the Golden State Warriors moved on from Klay Thompson, Curry admitted there are moments when the reality of it all still feels strange — and quietly painful.
“I wish he was still here,” Curry said in a recent ESPN feature.
It was a short sentence. It carried a lot.
Old Warriors Habits Die Hard
Curry told ESPN that whenever he watches a Dallas Mavericks game, his eyes naturally track Thompson on the floor.
It’s instinct. Muscle memory. Twelve years of shared moments don’t disappear just because the jersey changed.
Curry recalled watching a Mavericks game at home with his son Canon, who noticed something Curry had already felt.
“Klay’s playing?” Canon asked. “Why are you here?”
That was one of those moments where the shift became real again. Thompson wasn’t just missing from the Warriors’ locker room. He was missing from Curry’s everyday basketball world.
“Those are the moments it hits,” Curry said. “Things have evolved in life. But there are reminders of how special of a thing it was.”
A Trio That Was Never Supposed to End
Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
GettyDraymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Stephen Curry.
For years, Curry, Thompson, and Draymond Green openly talked about finishing their careers together. Four championships. A style of play that reshaped the league. A run that rivaled any trio in NBA history.
That’s why Green still bristles when graphics label him and Curry as the league’s longest-tenured duo.
“It should be trio,” Green said. “That’s weird to me.”
Injuries changed everything. Thompson lost nearly three full seasons to ACL and Achilles tears, then fought his way back to help Golden State win the 2022 title. But the physical toll, combined with shifting priorities from the front office, gradually pushed the relationship toward an ending neither side fully expected.
Seeing Klay on the Other Side From the Warriors
Klay Thompson, Mavericks
GettyKlay Thompson of the Dallas Mavericks reacts after making a basket against the Sacramento Kings.
When the Warriors visited Dallas last season, Curry made it a point to reconnect. He stayed at Thompson’s house. Organized a dinner. Played games. Caught up like old times.
There was no need to rehash the breakup.
“It was friends kicking it,” Green said. “But you could tell it was odd for him.”
Curry later described the night as an acknowledgement of finality, even if that wasn’t the intention going in.
The next night, reality returned. Thompson picked off a Green pass, blocked a Curry floater late, and helped the Mavericks beat Golden State. For a few hours, nostalgia gave way to competition.
That edge never left any of them. It’s part of why they won.
Why This Still Hurts for Curry
Curry’s reflection wasn’t about regret in a transactional sense. It wasn’t about wishing the Warriors had forced a reunion or rewritten the cap sheet.
It was about the human side of it.
“You don’t spend 12 years with your friends and then that just fades,” Thompson said.
Curry echoed that feeling. He’s proud of what they built. Protective of Thompson when criticism follows him in Dallas. And honest about how incomplete it still feels seeing the Splash Brothers separated.
“The idea that he’s carrying the Warrior success no matter what jersey he has on, I do like that,” Curry said. “But I don’t like people taking shots at him when he doesn’t have that coverage and he doesn’t have his guys with him.”
What Comes Next
Thompson is still trying to win in Dallas. Curry is still chasing one more run in Golden State. Their paths have diverged, even if the bond hasn’t.
Whether there’s ever a reunion remains uncertain. Curry acknowledged that, right now, it feels distant and largely out of his control.
But the larger truth has already settled in.
This wasn’t just a roster decision or a change of scenery. It marked the quiet end of something that defined an era of Warriors basketball.
And even now, long after the uniforms changed, it’s clear that separation still lingers.