They weren’t the Splash Brothers right away.
Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have arguably been the best backcourt duo in the NBA for the past decade. They’ve won four titles together and they’ve been by each other’s side through thick and thin. The Splash Brothers’ chemistry on the floor is just as tight as their relationship beyond basketball.
That’s why it’s quite surprising to hear Klay’s recollection of his rookie season, when he and Steph were barely on speaking terms.
“I don’t think me and Steph said a word to each other the first year, to be honest” Thompson said on Podcast P with Paul George.
Klay’s rookie campaign in the NBA was Steph’s third year in the league. The latter dealt with injuries a lot, which perhaps contributed to the limited interaction between the two. Whatever it was, the rapport we see between the game’s top shooting tandem wasn’t there in the beginning.
“Steph only played like 20 games (it’s 26, actually) that year. I was riding the bench the first 30 games of the year. We really didn’t speak to each other that much. I was so quiet,” the five-time NBA All-Star revealed.
So, when did they start to hit it off? Thompson claimed that things began to fall into place during their stint with Team USA, which eventually won the FIBA World Cup in 2014.
“Our relationship really didn’t build ‘til we played for that Team USA and we finally hung off the court,” said Klay.
While practicing in Gran Canaria, Spain, the Splash Bros. bonded over a game of golf. Of course, it had to be golf. They played against NBA legends Dominique Wilkins and Clyde Drexler, who clowned them for their amateurish technique. This was years before Steph was hitting hole-in-ones in celebrity golf tournaments.
“We’re like in the Canary Islands and we had nothing else to do, so we went and played golf. We finally got to know each other on the golf course,” Thompson revealed.
Entering the 2022-23 NBA season, Steph and Klay will be gunning for their fifth NBA chip with the help of their new teammate Chris Paul. Perhaps this trio will be seen bonding on the fairways as well, soon.
(GM)