Steph no longer addressing crowd before Klay’s return in Dubs-Mavs

Steph no longer addressing crowd before Klay’s return in Dubs-Mavs originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Klay Thompson again has asked Steph Curry not to do something on his behalf.

Curry was scheduled to give a speech to fans at Chase Center before the Warriors and Dallas Mavericks tip off Tuesday night at Chase Center, but that no longer will happen.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr told reporters before the game that Curry and Thompson spoke Monday night and agreed to nix the pregame speech, which was going to take place after player introductions.

“It often is in circumstances like these, whether it’s ring night or something like this where a player returns,” Kerr told reporters before the game when asked about the heightened emotions of the game. “I know we had talked about having Steph address the crowd. He’s not going to do that now. He and Klay talked about it last night. They both have a game to prepare for.

“And to your point, there’s going to be enough emotion already. The crowd will give him an enormous ovation that will probably go on for a while. So those guys got together and decided no words [were] necessary, and we tip it off and hopefully we can settle into the game quickly.”

Thompson is playing his highly anticipated first game against the Warriors after leaving the franchise in July.

The Warriors are handing out Captain’s Hats to fans in attendance at Chase Center and they will play a tribute video for Thompson before he is introduced to the crowd.

Before he departed from the Warriors, Thompson asked Curry and Draymond Green not to lobby the Warriors to make a last-ditch effort to bring him back.

Like this summer, Curry obliged Thompson’s request.

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