The Warriors likely will play without Klay Thompson for a while, but there was no chance in hell that he'd miss opening night.
Thompson is expected to miss most, if not all, of the 2019-2020 season, the inaugural one at Golden State's brand-new arena, Chase Center.
Before the Warriors tipped off their season opener against the Clippers on Thursday night, Thompson had a message for the home crowd.
Klay Thompson address the crowd pic.twitter.com/Jm6hnoIeOz— Kerith Burke (@KerithBurke) October 25, 2019
"I'm excited for this year, and I know these guys are," Thompson began. "I've been around training camp. I know it's been an offseason of change, new building -- by the way, shout out to Joe [Lacob] and Peter [Guber] for a vision come to fruition. It's unbelievable.
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"I've been seeing these young guys put in work every day. It's an exciting time to be a Warriors fan, and see, the banners came with us from Oakland."
As the crowd roared when the championship banners were shown on the monstrous video board, Thompson issued a reassurance to the hometown fans, hoping to quell their worries. After all, Golden State isn't the prohibitive NBA title favorite for the first time in six years.
"Stick with us, guys," Thompson said. "It's going to be a great year. These guys are hungry to prove themselves. It's going to be a lot of fun."
[RELATED: Draymond returns to Warriors' opener after injury scare]
Indeed, it will be fun. But we all can agree that it'll be that much more enjoyable when Thompson gets back on the court.
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