Steve Kerr on Klay Thompson’s departure: ‘It’s what’s right for him’

Nothing but love and support from coach Kerr.

Klay Thompson agreeing to a three-year, $50 million sign-and-trade with the Dallas Mavericks is going to take quite a while to get used to. It will take a while for us, the fans. It will take a while for the NBA community. And it will especially take a while for the players, coaches, and other members of the Golden State Warriors organization that embarked on a decade-plus long journey with Klay, which resulted in four championships, five trips to the All-Star Game, 15,531 points (plus another 3,032 in the playoffs), and a legacy that will eventually conclude with a statue and the raising of a jersey to the rafters.

But for as weird as it may be for the Warriors family to go to work without Klay, it’s also probably easier for them. Because they know Thompson the best, which means they understand the move the most.

Look no further than head coach Steve Kerr. Despite publicly and privately campaigning for Thompson to return for a 14th season with the Warriors, Kerr seems to fully understand why Klay left. In fact, Kerr doesn’t just understand it — he seems to agree with it.

Speaking to reporters at a Team USA practice ahead of the Olympics, Kerr admitted that this was the right move for Thompson, saying, “I think it makes sense for him in his heart to get a different change of pace, change of location. Get out of California, go play on a different team. It’s what’s right for him right now.”

It goes without saying that Kerr was also effusive in his praise of Thompson, and expressed a lot of love for his now-former player, saying things like, “We wish Klay well, but we love him and we’ll miss him,” and “Klay’s going to have a statue outside Chase someday, he’ll be beloved by his teammates and coaches and our fans forever.”

Kerr reiterated those statements on a 95.7 radio hit, adding that Thompson had been a no-maintenance player prior to injuries, but struggled to handle his lessened play since returning from ACL and Achilles injuries, before concluding that, “In the end, he really needed this career change and I think it’s going to be good for him.”

The more we learn, the more obvious it seems that this is the best move for Thompson. It doesn’t make it fun, but it does make it understandable.