When Klay Thompson left Golden State and his backcourt mate Steph Curry two offseasons ago, signing a three-year/$50M deal with the Dallas Mavericks, the move was supposed to be a revitalization of a career that had gotten stale and the final piece to a Dallas Mavericks championship puzzle after advancing to the NBA finals and losing to the Boston Celtics.
Klay Thompson Moved To Dallas Mavericks Bench, Shoots Well Against Pelicans
However, Thompson’s once lethal shooting prowess has continued to go south as the 35-year-old was benched and replaced by journeyman D’Angelo Russell in the starting lineup.
Dallas had high hopes when they nabbed No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg, despite Kyrie Irving being out this season with an ACL tear and the lingering effects of the Luka Doncic trade still twisting fans into pretzels as they try to wrap their mind around the trade to Los Angeles.
All of that is in the past now and he appears to be a player who is better off the bench. He’s not totally washed and in fact, on Wednesday night, he was as effective as he’s been all season in his new backup role in a 101-99 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans that dropped the Mavericks to 2-6. It immediately paid dividends as Thompson played 21 minutes and contributed 11 points, while shooting 4-of-7 from the field and 50 percent on six shots from three.
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While Thompson’s Hall of Fame game has fallen off (8.1 ppg, 31.8 FG%, 26.2 from three) his love life with hip hop star Megan Thee Stallion has been all over social media. From the trips to the golf course, to the homemade meals, to the posts that show the two love birds hugging and smooching to reports that the couple have purchased a new home together.
Klay Thompson Slumping Amidst Love Affair With Megan Thee Stallion
Thompson’s heart wasn’t all in basketball during his final two seasons with the team. Klay admits that he needed a change of scenery after four championships and more than a decade of winning in Golden State. He was part of a cosmic shift in NBA culture along with Curry. Together they formed the infamous “Splash Brothers” and Klay was also known to devastate defenses with his lethal long-range bombing.
Overall, however, the clock is ticking, and he might be setting up his retirement as a future husband to a world-famous performer. It’s becoming a common theme in sports from Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift to a non-descript MLB player such as Cole Tucker who is married to actress Vanessa Hudgens. NBA star Brandon Ingram is public with his relationship with Memphis rap doll Glorilla. Cardi B and Stefon Diggs are on baby No.1. The list goes on and on.
Klay and Megan workout together.
And the deal was sealed when she made him a Houston style Spaghetti and fish ghetto dish that the son of an NBA player who grew up in the suburbs in affluence, never experienced. Klay says Megan’s cooking is “the best food he ever tasted” in his life. That was back in August and pretty much confirmed he was hooked.
Fans Blame Megan Thee Stallion for Klay Thompson Benching: Where’s His Focus?
There were plenty of fans who defended Klay as having nothing to prove at this point in his illustrious career. Others couldn’t resist blaming Thompson’s newfound love for his quickly declining game. In fact, they all sounded a bit obsessed with the woman he’s dating.
“Well at least he gets to ride the Stallion every night,” said one fan, celebrating the relationship between Megan and Klay regardless of how poorly he plays.
“The Stallion Effect,” said another fan, blaming Klay’s relationship for his poor play.
“He got the wrong basket in mind,” joked one netizen.
“Stallion drained the shooting juice out of Klay, no more threes for now,” one Facebook commenter quipped.
“It’s time to rise off into the sunset,” suggested another fan.
“Messing with Meg got the brotha off his game,”
Blame it on The Kardashian sisters who developed a reputation for “jinxing” the careers of athletes they publicly dated. When a legendary athlete gets into one of these entanglements with a performer who spends her entire life on social media and trying to live up to an image, things can get complicated. Fans are a bit concerned with Klay. He’s not in Dallas to be the man, but he is expected to help the team hold fort until it’s at full strength. That’s not happening, but he sure seems to enjoy jet-setting with the “WAP” queen.
