The Golden State Warriors fell to 2-2 on the season on Tuesday night, losing 134-105 to the Phoenix Suns. No one on the Warriors could get things going from three-point range, and it led to an off night on the offensive side of the ball.
On the flip side, the Suns were hot. Devin Booker dropped 34 points, and three other members of the starting lineup had at least 15. Plus, they got a 17-point contribution from Jock Landale off the bench. Everything was working.
However, the biggest story from the game came in the form of an ejection. Klay Thompson was ejected from the contest after arguing with Booker and saying a few words to the referees. After the game, Booker said that he has a ton of respect for Thompson.
“Man, I love Klay Thompson,” Booker said. “And I have from the beginning. From the draft coming out, I said I wanted to be Klay Thompson. You know, that doesn’t excuse us from competing against each other and talking a little mess with each other. So I have fun with it. Big fan of his and his competitive nature. And that’s that.”
The ejection was Thompson’s first of his career, and it’s unsurprising that it came in a game where the Warriors were getting beaten by a wide margin.
Booker Refuses to Back Down
In his post-game press conference, Booker doubled down on what he said about Thompson after the game. That being said, he also stated that he’s not going to back down from a battle.
“Just two competitors,” Booker explained. “In my post-game interview, I said it. I love Klay Thompson. I have for a really long time. But that doesn’t excuse us from being competitive and talking to each other. I’ve always admired his game, how he plays on both sides of the ball, and obviously, the rings speak for themselves. But like I said, I’m going to bring it every time.”
In addition to his 34 points, Booker also added two rebounds, seven assists, and three steals to his total while shooting 10-of-19 from the field and 3-of-8 from distance.
Thompson Kept Mentioning Rings
Throughout all the trash talk, Thompson kept mentioning the fact that he has four rings, and Booker didn’t really have a response to it. He said that Thompson was having a tough night, but when it comes to rings, you have to respect it.
“Just having a tough night,” said Booker. “I think everything plays into that. It’s frustration. I’ve been there before. And you know what they have, they have the four rings, so they’re going to use that in all the trash talk, rightfully so, respectively. But that don’t have nothing to do with it.”
Thompson ended the night with just two points on 1-of-8 shooting from the field and 0-of-5 shooting from three-point range. It was a rough night, to say the least.
In the long run, this ejection shouldn’t affect the Warriors, but seeing Thompson act with such passion is definitely unusual. For a player who’s usually overly calm, it was fun to see him express himself this way.
