Klay Thompson’s last game against the Warriors doesn’t make much noise

SAN FRANCISCO — The sentimentality barely registered this time. The heat has subsided. The moments were reduced to a few. A pregame hug from Steph Curry. A respectful ovation from the Chase Center crowd. Quick post-game hugs.

The NBA designed Thursday as a holiday meeting, an intentional scraping of moods. But even the acrimony did not show. Klay Thompson felt far away from the Golden State Warriors in his fourth game in the Bay as a walk-on with the Dallas Mavericks.

On Christmas Eve, Steve Kerr called the Warriors a dynasty in decline. Then Klay came back, and it was as if one of the pillars of the dynasty disappeared from the family photo.

He was the warrior par excellence, the embodiment of the aura of the time. This made him beloved in these parts. His legend, his love seemed inseparable from the philosophy of Golden State. But when the severity reaches its peak and the affection takes center stage, only remnants remain between Thompson and the Warriors.

“They’re an adversary,” Thompson said. “Why would I look at any team other than the Mavericks like that? It’s just the nature of the business.”

The internet floated the idea of ​​Thompson and the Warriors reuniting. The Warriors need shooting. The Mavericks need to hit the reset button. Klay went to Dallas to play with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. He now backs up Naji Marshall and runs with Brandon Williams in the second unit.

Klay’s salary is achievable at $16.7 million this season and $17.5 million next. The Warriors have pieces to move. The scene seemed set for a return to basics.

But the Warriors’ 126-116 win over Dallas generated little desire from either side.

Curry — who turned his sneaker free agency into an episodic storyline — played in Thompson’s KT 11 Anta shoes. He uses his shoe selection as an ode to cities, players and memories. So, honoring his Splash Brother fit with Curry’s podiatry fashion trends.

It ended the day as the only overt gesture to Thompson’s enduring place in Golden State lore. Yet another reminder of how the Warriors’ greatness continues to fade in the rearview mirror. What once seemed permanent now seems archived.

“I’ll never get used to seeing Klay on the other side,” Kerr said. “I miss Klay. I wish he was still here.”

This day was supposed to be about Klay. Instead, reconciliation between Klay’s former teammate and coach took precedence.

This week unfolded with a heated exchange between Draymond Green and Kerr, a comeback clash. Early in the third quarter of Tuesday’s win over the Orlando Magic, Green left the bench and headed to the locker room to calm down after an argument with Kerr in the huddle. He did not play the rest of the match.

Kerr took responsibility for the exchange and said they both apologized to the team. The emergency may have fueled the divide, at least in part. The Warriors are looking, once again, to punctuate their historic era. And the frustrations of their struggles to start the season fueled the anxiety that bubbled up.

Expectations can be heavy. The past can haunt as much as it helps.

“I like it,” said Jimmy Butler, who was sitting in the group and seemed unresponsive to the exchange. “You’re yelling at each other. It kind of turned me on. I’m not even going to lie. I like it. I like the confrontation. It’s good for us.”

The Warriors are continuing what they had, driven by what they’ve built. But even if they return to the mountaintop, it will be as much about what happens next as what happened. Maybe the closer they get to that goal, the better their chances of getting where they want to go.

Today was supposed to be about Klay, but De’Anthony Melton’s determination mattered more. The veteran guard represents Thompson’s turnaround. Melton’s ability to play both sides makes him invaluable.

Melton joins Brandin Podziemski as the Warriors’ secondary point guard. Their penetration and shooting prove crucial against defenses that concede driving lanes in the name of chasing Curry. Melton, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL, struggled mightily with his offense. But he continued to attack the paint, making 14 shots, refusing to leave the game without something to feel good about on offense.

His last 3-point basket with 50.2 seconds remaining served as a dagger for the Mavericks. Melton raised his hands to the sky. Melton missed 26 of his 30 attempts from behind the arc before that mark.

“I’m just trying to keep working at it,” Melton said. “I think my physical condition has definitely improved. Before, in my first five minutes of playing, I felt like I was ready to pass out. But now I feel a lot better, I feel like I can play a lot longer.”

No, this day was not about Klay, nor the memories he had delivered, nor the greatness he had invested in the foundations of this building in San Francisco. Seeing him in the boat on the bay, with his girlfriend, Megan Thee Stallion, awakened nostalgia. But it perhaps highlighted how different the situation is today. Once the visual shorthand for the essence of the Warriors, with his shooting, stoicism and flair for the spectacular, he exists as Warrior only in a glorious past and a ceremonial future. Even the impotence of his tenure with the Mavericks couldn’t reignite the nostalgia.

The return was conceived as a moment. Last season, Thompson’s first game as an enemy ended with Curry screaming into the camera. On his next visit, Thompson caught fire and burned the Warriors for 29. But for this visit, Thompson’s only one this season, the sparks are already out. He scored seven points off the bench, going 1 for 4 from 3. What was left was neither desire nor tension. But acceptance.

The Warriors’ concerns now revolve around building their roster and upgrading their roster before the trade deadline. No longer keep what they were but manage what they are. Thompson’s story remains fundamental but no longer illuminates the present. It no longer reopens wounds or generates energy. Because the next version of the Warriors cannot be built by revisiting the previous ones. Not even for Klay.

“Probably all the good times,” Thompson said when asked what he was thinking while visiting his old home. “Record nights. Championships. All that good stuff.”

This Christmas seemed much longer ago.