“Without Klay, you needed shooting. We needed shooting anyway.” It was just yesterday when, in his praise of new teammate Buddy Hield, Stephen Curry put out a remark that seemingly indicated a lack of confidence in his former Splash Bro. Before long, social media users had descended onto X to share their thoughts, surprisingly not too kind to Klay. After all, if the preseason had shown fans anything, it is that his initial games with the Dallas Mavericks weren’t off to a good start. However, it is regular season time now, and the shooter did not waste any time in changing the narrative around him.

The Mavs’ recently concluded season opener against the Spurs saw Klay Thompson taking the scoring lead, right behind Luka Doncic. He ended up securing a score of 22 points within 26 minutes by going 7-13 (53.8%) with his field goals, 6-10 (60.0%) with his three-pointers, and 2-2 (100%) with his free throws. Yup, you read it right, the player who unknowingly came under fire after Stephen Curry’ “we needed shooting anyway” remark less than 24 hours ago made 60% successful three-pointers with 10 attempts!

If anyone from the Warriors squad was watching the game, they better start gearing up for what can come next. Despite delivering an impressive performance that allowed him to tie the record for the most threes in a Mavericks debut game, Klay Thompson made it clear that it was not even close to the expectations the shooting guard/small forward has set for himself.

During a post-game Q&A session, he went on to state, “Not satisfied, but I’m happy for what we did.”

The 34-year-old’s blockbuster season opener comes right after a few doubts had started to creep in on how would Thompson adjust to his new franchise. After all, in 3 games of the preseason, he only averaged 7 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. His shooting was at a disappointing 24.1% field goals, 33.3% three-pointers, and 50% free throws.

After Stephen Curry made the above-mentioned remark, X was filled with social media users putting out responses like “Bro said Klay don’t got it no more,” “We got Buddy now. And right now he’s better than Klay,” “Very pleasantly surprised by Buddy, didn’t even miss Klay with him out there,” etc.

On the other hand, with shooting averages of 51.9% field goals, and 48.7% three-pointers in the preseason, Buddy Hield sure created a good impression. While the performance of the new Warrior is praiseworthy, Klay Thompson proved today that he is on the right track, setting a foundation. Having shown what he can do, the hooper wants to work on his development and rapport with the team.

Klay Thompson believes there is still a long way to go in building up chemistry with the Mavericks: “At least 10 to 20, 30 games”

During the postgame presser, there was no doubt that Klay Thompson was the man of the hour. While his points total could not reach as high as Luka Doncic’s 28, it still played a big role in securing the 120-109 win against Victor Wembanyama and the Spurs.

The way that the Slovenian and KT passed the ball during the matchup and connected without sharing many words indicated the presence of a strong Dallas partnership. However, just as the hooper believed that his debut Mavs performance was not fully satisfactory, he also indicated that his rapport-building with the Dallas squad was still in the early stages.

“Probably, who knows, at least 10 to 20, 30 games,” said Thompson when asked how long will it take for him to develop a proper chemistry with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. “Hopefully, every week, it gets just a little bit better. Just gradual improvements. It’s not going to be perfect, but tonight was a good step in the right direction.”

We do not know whether the momentum that favored Klay Thompson today will continue during the rest of this season. But what we do know is that when the Mavericks go up against the Warriors less than three weeks from now, it will be an epic game to watch!