Sneaker free agent Stephen saved his best for the most wonderful time of the year. Amid his recent streak of honoring various athletes — such as Kobe Bryant, Penny Hardaway, Michel Jordan and Sabrina Ionescu — the Warriors star donned a pair of his former teammate Klay Thompson’s “ANTA KTs” in Thursday’s Christmas Day matchup against the Mavericks.
Curry followed his recent trend of honoring various athletes through different sneakers during his arena entrance, warmups and then for the actual game.
On Christmas Day, he arrived donning Allen Iverson’s iconic Reebok Question (the Kobe Bryant “Yellow Toe” Player Exclusive) before warming up in his own Nike Hyperdunk 2012 Christmas Edition, which included his first Nike “SC30” logo.
Klay Thompson Thankful for Gesture
In his postgame news conference, Curry joked that there was no intent behind honoring his former teammate in their first-ever head-to-head clash on Christmas Day.
“I just happened to randomly found some Anta Klay Thompson 11’s lying around in the back. Just thought I’d wear ’em and they happened to be my size,” Curry said after dropping 23 points in the Warriors’ 126-116 victory, via The Athletic.
“It was pretty cool,” he added.
Thompson wished Curry hadn’t honored him while handing his team a loss, but was grateful nonetheless.
“It was great. It was really cool,” said Thompson, who had a quiet night with seven points. “Wish he didn’t get a win in ’em, but it was awesome. A lot of respect.”
Splash Brother Reunion Awaits?
The sneaker tribute wasn’t the only Stephen Curry gesture that got Warriors fans in their feels on Thursday. They also watched the former Splash Brothers in shootaround together during the pregame warmup.
Amid the good vibes between the Splash Brothers, a recent report from ESPN’s Anthony Slater claimed that Klay Thompson could return to the Warriors to finish his Hall of Fame-worthy career.
“Those around Thompson say they believe it could eventually happen because ‘there’s no one that carries more weight with Klay than Steph,’ one league source said.”
“But Curry would have to push for it,” Slater wrote on a possible Thompson-Warriors reunion.
“It would be unbelievable,” Curry said of Thompson returning to Golden State.
“If that time comes and that conversation is had, of course I’m calling him and saying, ‘We want you back.’ And hopefully that would be a welcome message to him. But as we stand right now, that does seem like a far distant reality. But so did him leaving.”
Thompson has one season left in the three-year, $50M deal he signed with the Mavericks in 2024. While he could always return to the Warriors as a free agent in 2027, one can’t rule out the possibility of his former team trading for him. Per ESPN’s Shams Charania, the Mavs are listening to offers on Thompson ahead of the Feb. 5 trade deadline, and are also shopping several other veterans on the roster.
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