Entering Tuesday’s game against the Phoenix Suns, the Golden State Warriors’ All-Star guard Klay Thompson was never ejected from an NBA game. But that would go on to change by the end of the night.
The Suns and the Warriors played a highly entertaining game that saw players going back and forth at each other with emotions going wild. In the midst of it were Thompson and his primary defender for the night, fellow All-Star Devin Booker.
Booker and Thompson trash-talked to each other for the better part of the game, with things getting particularly heated in the third quarter. After one exchange, the two got chest-to-chest, prompting a technical foul call on both players.
Thompson walked away at that point before bumping into Suns’ Mikal Bridges and then showing him away. The refs called a second technical on Thompson after that, sending him to the locker room for the first time since entering the league in 2011.
The Warriors would go on to lose the game 105-134, but Thompson’s teammates didn’t mind the fact he left them stranded.
“After he got thrown out, he had a lot more to say, which I love,” said Stephen Curry. “The back and forth is a part of [the game], and I like that he’s engaged in that respect because it matters to him.”
Thompson scored only two points against the Suns, going 1-8 from the field. Throughout the first four games of the 2022-23 season, the 32-year-old is averaging 11.0 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 2.8 assists per game.
