Pat McAfee Links Klay Thompson’s Online Ante vs Steph Curry & Warriors to Pippen-Jordan Animosity, Shut Down by Veteran Insider

Now that the NBA Finals are over, the next topic of interest becomes the Draft and Free Agency. The latter, particularly, will have a lot of takers, considering this year’s free agency is loaded with superstars. From the ‘King’ LeBron James himself to the man who has made headlines recently, Klay Thompson. It was with surprise, shock, and a bit of incredulity that NBA fans received the news of the 4x champion unfollowing the Golden State Warriors. But it didn’t stop there. His bio doesn’t have any mention of Warriors. And he had also deleted quite a chunk of Dubs-related posts going back to April 2022.

In particular, a celebratory photo of himself with Steph after the 2022 championship. Undoubtedly, it spread like wildfire, triggering the somewhat squashed free agency rumors yet again. Many were of the opinion that if this wasn’t the green signal that Thompson was leaving the Bay Area, then what is? Of course, to every argument, there will naturally be a counterargument as Dubs fans pointed out the number of players who pulled a similar stunt and ended up signing with the same team they said they’d be leaving.

However, in Klay’s case, things might need a closer inspection. After all, the negotiations, as they were, have been going on for a year! And neither party has reached a middle ground. Under such circumstances, Pat McAfee of the popular podcast, The Pat McAfee Show, comes forward with an interesting comparison. He likens Thompson’s latest miff with Steph Curry and the Warriors to that of Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan. Their guest, Brian Windhorst, though, was quick to smash any such comparison.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Windhorst calmly replied to McAfee’s excited chatter about a potential feud between the Splash Brothers and the Dubs. “This could end up being still a happy story.” Brian referenced the Andre Iguodala story with GSW and mentioned that even he was at the same stage of his career as Klay and wanted to be “overpaid”, concluding, “I agree it doesn’t look good. But I would also say don’t misjudge a negotiation for a statement of finale”.

But do McAfee’s claims have any credit to it?

Will the Klay Thompson-Stephen Curry relationship turn out to be Scottie Pippen-Michael Jordan-esque?

The Pippen-Jordan beef is one that is well-known to everyone interested in basketball. The two Bulls legends were extremely close. But things soured after the release of ESPN’s docuseries, The Last Dance. Pippen was of the opinion that MJ was given complete credit for the success of the Bulls while his teammates were delegated a minor role. The 7x All-Star laid the blame squarely on ‘His Airness’.

“Michael deserved a large portion of the blame. The producers had granted him editorial control of the final product,” Pippen wrote in his memoir, Unguarded. And Pat McAfee believes this to be a very similar situation because just like the above-mentioned pair, Curry and Thompson have been close friends, teammates, and cornerstones of a dynasty that was down in the dumps.

Together with Draymond Green, they revived the Golden State to its former glory. And now, the Dubs have extended Dray’s contract while Steph had inked a 4-year $215 million deal that expires after the 2025-26 season, and Klay is yet to reach an agreement with a franchise he gave 12 years of his life to, among other things. Hence, as Pat McAfee asks, “In the future, is history going to look back and be like, ‘Steph Curry is the reason the entire thing [was a success]’ and forget about Klay Thompson?“

Will it? What do you make of the whole scenario? Is it a possibility? Let us know your thoughts on the matter below!

 But before you go, be sure to check this video of Leonardo Armato’s take on Caitlin Clark vs Angel Reese.

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