Klay Thompson was so excited Kevin Durant chose the Golden State Warriors that he…went back to sleep after hearing the news.
This is apparently a true-fact anecdote, one unearthed by The Vertical’s Shams Charania:
“I was sleeping,” Thompson told The Vertical, “and my brother came to my room and woke me up to tell me that KD committed. I didn’t believe it at first when he told me, so I had to check my phone and verify it. I was like, ‘Seriously? KD really chose us?’ It was an incredible moment for our organization, and I was psyched. We had the final form of our team.
“And then I went back to sleep.”
It’s downright amazing at how all these Durant-related stories continue to trickle out weeks after his decision. We keep finding out how players heard the news, where they were, what their reaction was, etc. It doesn’t even matter if you play for the Warriors. If you’re in the NBA, we want to retroactively hear about your reaction to the Durant news.
Anyhow, this particular story sounds like Thompson in a nutshell. He has been super relaxed about the entire Durant thing from start to finish. He was no doubt excited that he gets to play beside another future Hall of Famer, but all along he has de-emphasized the adjustments and adaptations and tweaks and sacrifices that must be made for a nucleus of Durant, himself, Stephen Curry and Draymond Green to work.
This keeps in theme with that attitude. Thompson is excited, but not nervous. He is thrilled, but not obsessed. Durant’s arrival is a time for celebration, for reflection, for momentary disbelief.
It is not, in Thompson’s case, a time for shortchanging sleep.
