Klay Thompson has been in the NBA for over a decade now. While he has been crushing it on the court since day one, one of his former teammates has recently revealed that the forward was not utterly professional when he first made the move to the Warriors in 2011. Thompson was selected by the Warriors as the 11th overall pick in the first round of the 2011 NBA draft.

Richard Jefferson, a former teammate of Thompson at the Warriors, revealed how he pushed then-coach Mark Jackson to help boost Klay’s professionalism in the league. Jefferson, who was one of the experienced players on the Warriors roster back in the 2012-13 season, talked about a time early in that season when he noticed that Klay Thompson was not punctual enough and he immediately brought it to the coach’s attention.

Featuring on the Come and Talk 2 Me podcast, Jefferson said, “Klay would literally…like practice would start at 10 o’clock and Klay would literally or like practice would start at 10 o’clock, or we would come in for films, Klay would come in at 9:55, grab his food and like sit in there and so I was like coach we gotta do something about Klay, the kid’s too talented, like not that he doesn’t work but I don’t think some of the prior people had established like the type of work ethic that was needed in the organization.”

Jefferson suggested tightening up routines, like cutting the breakfast time short, to help Klay step up his game off the court, too. “I was like, coach, you gotta maybe close breakfast like 30 minutes before practice. ‘Cause now all of a sudden guys start getting in there at 9.15 right and now it’s like after I eat, okay, shoot, I might as well go shoot, right?” Jefferson added.

The idea was that if breakfast time was cut short, the players would start showing up early, and after eating, they might get in some extra work. Jefferson thought this would help Klay and the team to get their act together and develop better habits. And maybe this tweak made a huge difference, as the Warriors went from the base to the penthouse in the seasons that followed. Even though Mark Jackson was replaced as the head coach in 2014, the good habits stuck with Klay and the rest of the Warriors’ squad, as the team saw considerable success moving ahead.

However, after all those years of success with the Warriors, Thompson is not with the franchise anymore. He has separated from his splash brother Steph Curry, having signed a 3-year, $50 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

Klay Thompson’s emotional departure from the Warriors

As you can imagine, it was not easy for Thompson to leave the Warriors after all the accolades during his 13-year-long stint. Having won four NBA championships with the team, the veteran forward finally said his goodbye to the dubs this year, but not without an emotional message for the fans.

“Oh Bay Area, there are not enough words and images to convey how I really feel about y’all. From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for some of the best times of my life. It was such an honor to put that Dubs jersey on from day 1. I really just wanted to be the best I could be and help bring as many championships as possible to the region. The best part was not the rings though, it was the friendships I made that will last a lifetime. My family and I would like to thank all of the amazing people who work tirelessly to make the @warriors organization world-class. Don’t be sad it’s over, be happy it happened. Until we meet again. Sea captain out,” Thompson wrote on Instagram.

While Klay Thompson had many extraordinary moments in the Warriors’ jersey, some are etched in the memory of the fans forever. Remember when Klay dropped 37 points in one quarter? That was wild! It was back in 2015 when the Warriors were playing the Sacramento Kings, and Klay went off in the third quarter, scoring 37 points on a perfect 13-for-13 clip, with nine of those coming from deep. Had everyone’s jaw on the floor! What is your favorite Klay Thompson memory during his time at the Warriors? Let us know in the comments below.

Before you go, do not forget to check out this crossover between BG12 and Georgia Bulldogs star Asia Avinger.