For the first time, Klay Thompson will suit up for a team that isn't the Warriors this coming season and Kyrie Irving is a big reason why.
When Thompson moved Golden State from Dallas in July, it was reported that Irving helped sway Klay's decision to sign with the Mavs.
Kidd recently talked about how Kyrie was Klay's main recruiter.
“If you talk about the employment of people, there are many who participated in that. But one of the biggest players in that was Kai,” Kidd said Dubs Talk. “Kai knows, player by player, (the details) with his knowledge of what Dallas has been like for him over the past two years and being able to tell Klay the honest truth of what he thinks is possible with Klay coming to Dallas.”
Although the team's coach wants to be praised for luring one of the best three-point shooters in the league to Dallas, he talked about the importance of player-to-player communication when making the decision to join a new team.
“I'd like to say it was all me,” Kidd said. “But it wasn't like that. It was a team effort. But I think that player to player – in this league, they all talk about their situations, and they all hire each other – this was about Kai and Klay being able to talk.
“And I believe that Klay did his homework, just understanding the situation. It would have been easy for him to stay [with the Warriors]. So, he had to do some homework to see what Dallas was all about.”
Many say Klay could be the missing piece for Dallas, which reached the NBA Finals in 2023-24, but fell to Boston in five games.
Luka Doncic was the Mavs' biggest contributor, while Irving fell for a few games. So having another offensive option for Klay this season could help ease the pressure on Luke.
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