After spending 13 years alongside Stephen Curry with the Golden State Warriors, Klay Thompson made the decision to join the Dallas Mavericks, signing a three-year, $50 million deal. Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd revealed just how instrumental Kyrie Irving was in making the blockbuster move happen.
In an interview with NBC Sports Bay Area’s “Dubs Talk“, Kidd opened up about the recruitment process, emphasizing that while many people were involved, Irving played a pivotal role in convincing Thompson to head to Dallas.
“When it comes to recruitment, a lot of people were part of the process,” Kidd said on Dubs Talk. “But one of the biggest factors was Kai [Irving]. Kai was able to connect with Klay, player to player, and share his experience of what it’s been like in Dallas over the past two years. He gave Klay an honest assessment of what he thinks could happen with him on board.”
Kidd downplayed his own involvement, saying, “I’d love to say it was all me, but it wasn’t. It was a team effort. But in this league, player-to-player recruitment is huge. This was all about Kai and Klay being able to have that conversation.”
Head coach Jason Kidd of the Dallas Mavericks talks with Kyrie Irving #11 during the second quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder. Joshua Gateley/Getty Images
Mavericks’ plans for Klay Thompson differ from Warriors
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban also offered insight into how the team plans to utilize Klay Thompson differently than the Golden State Warriors did. Rather than having Thompson constantly moving and coming off screens like in Golden State’s motion-heavy offense, the Mavs aim to ease his workload and let him focus primarily on shooting.
“Obviously, the big addition for us was Klay,” Cuban said. “He’s someone you have to guard closely because he’s going to knock down 40% of his shots. At Golden State, he was always running around and coming off screens. That’s not really our style. We’ll run some plays like that for him, but mostly, he’ll be positioned in the corners or on the wings, catching and shooting from Luka [Dončić] and Kyrie [Irving]. Hopefully, it makes his life a lot easier.”
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Irving reflects on ‘disappointing’ NBA Finals performance
In a recent Twitch stream, Kyrie Irving got candid about the Mavericks’ loss to the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals, admitting he was disappointed in his own performance during the team’s deep playoff run.
“Last year was definitely disappointing from the standpoint of not winning the Finals as a team and coming up short,” Irving said. “We got there for a reason, but blood is definitely in the water.”
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Irving didn’t shy away from holding himself accountable for the Mavs falling short. “I’m always going to take accountability, and it starts with me,” he said. “I didn’t play my best down the stretch, and that’s been eating me alive—in a healthy way. I’ve stayed motivated, and we’re gonna be back. We just need to have fun and take it day by day. But losing f— sucks.
