Culture

Why isn’t Alexander Mogilny in the Hockey Hall of Fame? There are clues

Published

1 day ago

November 11, 2024

Why isn’t Alexander Mogilny in the Hockey Hall of Fame? There are clues

Alexander Mogilny won’t be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday night. He has been eligible for 15 years, with cries from critics intensifying upon each rejection.

Rebukes are delivered with indignation. The Athletic has called his exclusion “inexcusable.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has labeled it “a disgrace,” Sportsnet “almost laughable” and the Toronto Star “nothing less than a crime.”

For the record, I believe Mogilny deserves induction. He produced one of the NHL’s most magical seasons, recorded wonderful career statistics and won a few awards along the way. His origin story is exhilarating; he was a true trailblazer, brazenly defecting from the Soviet Union to join the Buffalo Sabres. The Athletic two years ago ranked him the 89th greatest player in NHL history.

My problem, however, is with the annual assertion that the reasons behind Mogilny’s exclusion are some great mystery.

It is true the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee’s clandestine process means we’ll likely never know precisely why Mogilny has not been enshrined — or even if he has been so much as nominated. But the rationale has never been difficult to glean. Unmistakable clues have been chronicled for decades.

Mogilny’s personality is almost always described through such vague adjectives as “mercurial,” “enigmatic,” “quirky” or “mysterious.” What drove owners, general managers, coaches, teammates and fans bananas weren’t mere eccentricities. During his playing days, he was described as selfish, lazy, unreliable, a quitter and a passenger. Sporting sins, all.

As terrific as he was, Mogilny too often treated the sport as though it were beneath his ultimate effort and dedication. Those who played with him or watched him play — including Hall of Fame selection committees — could be excused for feeling cheated: awed by his otherworldly talents, but ultimately denied the joy of witnessing the heights of what he might have been.

“If they had a championship for quitters, this man would wear the heavyweight crown,” Buffalo News columnist Jim Kelley wrote of Mogilny in May 1995. Three months later, Mogilny’s antics forced the Sabres to trade him.

Keep in mind that, at the time, Mogilny had delivered the best hockey of his career. His 1992-93 season was seismic. Mogilny amassed 76 goals and 127 points on a line with center Pat LaFontaine and left wing Dave Andreychuk, two future Hall of Famers.

A preponderance of weight is placed on that single season when the case is made for Mogilny’s induction. But just two years later, the Sabres couldn’t cope with him anymore.

You hear plenty from Mogilny associates who insist he deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame. Rarely do you hear a luminary from any sport declare on the record that a superstar doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame. Those already inducted never want to come off as selfish or curmudgeonly about their blessing; the more the merrier. And when was the last time we heard LaFontaine utter a negative word about anyone?

Still, praise about Mogilny from former teammates and team leaders is often delivered with caveats.

Hall of Famers Martin Brodeur and Lou Lamoriello have stated Mogilny belongs in the Hall of Fame. But in the autobiography “Brodeur: Beyond the Crease,” a few pointed passages appear about Mogilny’s troubling lack of desire: “After several games of trying Mogilny on the (power-play) point, Lamoriello waived him, insisting the move, ‘was about ridding the team of passengers.’ I always felt ‘Almo’ was a good player on a good team, but on a struggling team he was exposed for his tendencies and habits.”

Mats Sundin was amused by Alexander Mogilny’s antics during their time as teammates in Toronto. (Ken Faught / Toronto Star via Getty Images)

There are a bunch of Mogilny references in Hall of Fame center Mats Sundin’s book, “Home and Away.” Mogilny amused the Maple Leafs captain during their three seasons together. By that late stage of Mogilny’s career, his infamous aversion to injury rehabilitation was accepted as part of the package. Sundin wrote that after multiple surgeries on Mogilny’s arthritic left hip, Sundin urged him to work out with strength coach Matt Nichol for just 10 minutes a day to prolong his linemate’s career for 10 more years.

“Why the f— would I want to do that?” Sundin recalled Mogilny’s reply.

“He was arguably the most talented guy any of us had ever played with,” Sundin wrote, “but he was not interested in training off-ice with us.”

That, in a nutshell, illustrates how Mogilny was viewed among many of the boys. He was jovial and quick-witted, good for a laugh in the dressing room or on the road. But a refusal to push himself could make teammates want to repeatedly bash their Jofas into the half-wall.

Former teammates, of course, aren’t the ones deciding Mogilny’s fate at the Hall of Fame. That’s where the Hockey Hall of Fame Selection Committee comes in. They are the gatekeepers, tasked to protect the game’s most hallowed principles — whether we agree or not.

Several of Mogilny’s close hockey acquaintances have served on the revolving, 18-member Selection Committee, which needs 14 members to confer induction. The current group has included Brian Burke (his Vancouver Canucks GM) since 2012, Igor Larionov (his Central Red Army teammate) since 2011 and Ron Francis (his Toronto Maple Leafs teammate) since 2016. Canucks executive/coach and Maple Leafs coach Pat Quinn served five years of Mogilny’s eligibility, while New Jersey Devils broadcaster Mike Emrick served seven years.

Hockey Hall of Fame selectors are sworn to secrecy, but some wrote books before they committed. What’s interesting in reading these memoirs is what isn’t said about Mogilny’s impact. Burke’s autobiography, “Burke’s Law,” mentions Mogilny just once in regard to Vancouver signing countryman Pavel Bure away from the Soviet Union. Mogilny won the Stanley Cup with New Jersey in 2000, but Emrick’s autobiography, “Off Mike: How a Kid from Basketball-Crazy Indiana Became America’s NHL Voice,” doesn’t mention the right wing. Quinn’s posthumous biography, “Quinn: The Life of a Hockey Legend” by The Athletic’s Dan Robson, provides zero quotes, anecdotes or words about Mogilny.

There are various reasons why Mogilny might not receive credit in these books. A lack of mentions doesn’t necessarily reveal the authors’ feelings about Mogilny’s exclusion from the Hall of Fame. Collectively, however, the omissions are telling. Wouldn’t a surefire Hall of Fame teammate make an enduring impression on the luminaries around him? Shouldn’t he influence their reflections of excellence?

Current Hall of Fame selector and journalist Scott Morrison has written many books, including “By the Numbers: From 00 to 99,” which is about the greatest players to wear each number. Mogilny was the obvious choice for No. 89, with Morrison writing, “While always a terrific player and a dangerous scorer, Mogilny only once came close to those (1992-93) numbers again, always being very good, but not always great.”

Mogilny’s bullet-point resume looks Hall of Fame-reasonable on paper. In addition to the stats and his dramatic origin story, he won a Stanley Cup, Olympic and IIHF World Championship gold medals to become a member of the Triple Gold Club, a Lady Byng, and is frequently (and erroneously) credited as the NHL’s first Russian-born captain.

But all his accomplishments come with qualifiers. He never was voted first-team All-Star — although he did make a pair of second-teams — and finished among the top 10 in goals thrice and points twice in his 15 seasons.

Alexander Mogilny and Pavel Bure at the 1993 All-Star Game. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

Not even Mogilny’s singular campaign is unassailable. Bernie Nicholls scored 70 goals in a season, scored two more career goals than Mogilny and recorded 117 more points in 137 more games. Yet Nicholls is not in the Hall of Fame either.

Mogilny won his Stanley Cup as a trade-deadline acquisition. He skated on the Devils’ third line, adding four goals and three assists in 23 postseason games. Sports Illustrated legend Michael Farber (a Hall of Fame selector until two years ago) wrote during the Final series against the Dallas Stars how Mogilny “skated in alone on a breakaway and took the most pedestrian of shots, a wrister from 25 feet. It was thigh-high, right at (Ed) Belfour’s glove, an effort worthy of an optional morning skate in January and not a potential Cup-winning goal in June. … The game turned on Mogilny’s middling effort, which seemed to energize Dallas.”

Over his career, Mogilny’s postseason scoring average plummeted to 0.69 points a game after averaging 1.04 points in the regular season.

“He’s so concerned with his sticks and skates I think he drives himself nuts, as well as us,” Devils coach Larry Robinson said during a 2001 postseason stretch in which Mogilny scored one goal over 19 games. “He’s thinking about it all the time. And you know in this business some of the best thinking you do is the thinking you don’t do.”

Regarding the Triple Gold Club and its requisite IIHF World Championships gold medal, that tournament never has carried any great degree of import to a player’s legacy, as it’s comprised of players not in the NHL postseason. Of the 30 Triple Gold Club members, 22 are Hall-eligible yet only 10 have been admitted.

The Lady Byng is far from a clincher. Eighteen winners are not in the Hall of Fame despite being eligible. Mogilny’s propensity to avoid contact and defense helped minimize his penalty minutes. Even so, he was suspended 10 games in January 1992 for slapping linesman Dan Schachte upside the head after being called for a slashing major and game misconduct.

Mogilny’s captaincy is regularly cited as leadership confirmation. Not nearly. Sabres coach John Muckler put the interim “C” on Mogilny’s sweater in November 1993 while LaFontaine was sidelined by a knee injury. The promotion was considered a ploy.

“Either Muckler thought it would motivate him to get back to form or owner Seymour Knox thought it would be a cool idea to have the first Russian captain,” Vancouver Province columnist Tony Gallagher wrote. “When informed some other Russian had been a captain … Knox went snakey.”

True enough, the New York Americans named Russian-born forward Sweeney Schriner their captain in the 1930s, further muddling another Hall of Fame talking point.

“The experiment of captain was a failure,” Kelley wrote. “Mogilny is many things, including a complex and mysterious personality, but he is not a leader.”

It should be noted Kelley, Gallagher and Farber are Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award recipients. That’s the Hockey Hall of Fame’s lifetime honor for print journalists. Washington Times reporter Dave Fay also won it, and he summed Mogilny this way: “a brilliant wing when properly motivated, a hand grenade missing its pin most other times.”

Among the misguided Mogilny narratives is how injuries robbed him of reaching the coveted 1,000-game milestone, but he needed just 10 more. The shortfall could have been overcome without his contract squabbles or distaste for working out. After breaking his leg in the 1993 playoffs, Mogilny eschewed injury rehabilitation and spent his offseason playing golf, delaying his return by as much as a month. He missed 16 games the next season.

“He rehabbed on the golf course. The Sabres were so steamed at his consistent failure to attend physio that Muckler and then-general manager Gerry Meehan read him the riot act, which went in one ear and out the other,” Gallagher wrote. “He was weeks late back into the lineup.”

Mogilny skipped the Canucks’ first 16 games of 1997-98 because of a holdout. By the time he reported, the Canucks were 3-11-2 and deep into a 10-game losing skid, had fired Quinn as president/GM and would fire coach Tom Renney three games later.

“While Mogilny remains a popular figure in the dressing room, and his brilliant abilities unquestioned,” wrote Vancouver Sun columnist Gary Mason in January 1998, “his play this season has become a joke among some players. He has played with little passion or commitment since re-signing with the team. He seems resigned to the fact he’s being traded and is playing like it, going through the motions while cashing his checks.”

The Buffalo News has speculated Mogilny is being stiff-armed by Hockey Hall of Fame gatekeepers who, wary of Mogilny’s decision not to collect his 2003 Lady Byng or attend his 2016 Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame induction, fear he would embarrass the Hall of Fame by declining to show up.

The newspaper’s hypothesis, however, fails to recognize Kelley’s scrutiny. “Jim Kelley Way,” designated when he died in 2010, is the stretch of Washington Avenue between the Buffalo News’ former offices and KeyBank Center, where the Sabres play. A year later, Kelley was inducted into the Sabres Hall of Fame along with Mogilny, who did show up — in a tuxedo, no less.

It seems clear, rightly or wrongly, the reasons Mogilny hasn’t gotten into the Hockey Hall of Fame are related to hockey violations that enough gatekeepers have deemed unforgivable. He’s viewed through the lens of how majestic his career could have been, if only he’d applied himself to the fullest.

Kelley acknowledged Mogilny was “the greatest goal scorer the Buffalo Sabres have ever known,” better than even Gilbert Perreault.

But for the man who covered Mogilny’s entire professional arc — up close at Mogilny’s best — character flaws eclipsed on-ice contributions. In hockey, that matters, and it certainly matters to the guardians of the game’s glory.

“You could never call him a team player, and you couldn’t count on him to always show up, let alone lead,” Kelley wrote after the Sabres traded Mogilny to the Canucks. “Mogilny’s history is one of a player and a person who never was much for sticking out tough times in the hopes of making things better. He was, and I suspect still is, a cut-and-run kind of guy.”

Seventy-six goals are incredible. They’ve been scored inside one campaign only six other times, with Wayne Gretzky doing it twice. Brett Hull, Mario Lemieux, Phil Esposito and Teemu Selanne are in the Hall of Fame, too, but those extraordinary seasons aren’t why. The Hall of Fame problem for Mogilny has been that throughout his career he provided too many reasons why not.

Mogilny possessed sublime talents that helped him statistically eclipse many Hall of Famers — and it should be noted that not all inductees were flawless, hard-working teammates and employees. On top of his skill and accomplishments on the ice, Mogilny’s willingness to escape the Soviet Union expedited an NHL transformation.

One of these years, he deserves induction. But let’s stop pretending we have no idea why it hasn’t happened.

(Top photo: Rick Stewart / Getty Images)

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Culture

Can You Place These Children’s Books on the World Map?

Published

4 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Press Room

Can You Place These Children’s Books on the World Map?

A strong sense of place can deeply influence a story, and in some cases, the setting can even feel like a character itself. This week’s literary geography quiz celebrates popular children’s books and stories from cultures around the world. To play, just make your selection in the multiple-choice list and the correct answer will be revealed. Links to the books will be listed at the end of the quiz if you’d like to do further reading.

Culture

Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 11: Will shaky contenders feel an SEC squeeze?

Published

11 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Press Room

Ranking 134 college football teams after Week 11: Will shaky contenders feel an SEC squeeze?

Editor’s note: The Athletic 134 is a weekly ranking of all FBS college football teams.

The ACC and Big 12’s hopes of sending multiple teams to the first 12-team College Football Playoff took a big hit over the weekend.

Miami (Fla.) and Iowa State both lost, greatly damaging their at-large hopes. Meanwhile, Ole Miss’ win at Georgia brought more SEC teams into the Playoff mix rather than knocking one out with a third loss. BYU’s comeback escape at Utah likely didn’t help its at-large case with the committee, either.

At this point, those leagues’ best hope for multiple bids is an upset in their respective conference championship games that doesn’t knock the top team out of the mix either. Those two conferences should also be rooting for Tennessee to beat Georgia next week and hoping Alabama and Ole Miss find a second loss somewhere. The crowd of two-loss SEC teams has the potential to squeeze out not only ACC and Big 12 at-large hopes but a team like Indiana, too, should the Hoosiers lose to Ohio State in overwhelming fashion.

But this isn’t the committee. This is The Athletic 134, and I’m standing by my rankings and not reacting to the initial CFP rankings like poll voters sometimes do.

Here is this week’s edition of The Athletic 134.

1-10

Rank	Record	Prev
1	10-0	1
2 Advertisement	8-1	3
3	8-1	5 Advertisement
4	9-0	6
5	8-1 Advertisement	7
6	8-1	8
7 Advertisement	10-0	9
8	7-2	13 Advertisement
9	8-2	16
10	7-2 Advertisement	2

Is BYU the fourth-best team in the country? I don’t know, but they keep pulling out wins, and they still have two victories over top-20 teams in SMU and Kansas State. That’s a good resume. Should Tennessee be higher than the Cougars with its loss to Arkansas or should Penn State and Indiana be higher without a top-25 win? Right now, I don’t really think so.

Indiana moves up from No. 9 to No. 7 thanks to losses by Georgia and Miami, but the Hoosiers barely held on for a 20-15 win against a Michigan team that pushed them around a bit in the second half. I think Indiana should be safe for a CFP spot as long as it beats Purdue, but a blowout loss to Ohio State could start a conversation. We’ll see what happens in two weeks.

Alabama jumps from No. 13 to No. 8 after whipping LSU on the road, while Ole Miss climbs from No. 16 to No. 9 after handling Georgia. The Bulldogs are suddenly barely hanging on to a spot in the CFP, and they’ve lost to both Alabama and Ole Miss. Alabama stays ahead of Ole Miss here because of their performances against LSU, which beat Ole Miss.

GO DEEPER

College Football Playoff 2024 projections: Indiana up to 92 percent chance to make field

11-25

Notre Dame actually inches out of my CFP field after Alabama and Ole Miss move up. The Irish might be another team hoping the SEC knocks some of its teams out, depending on what the committee shows on Tuesday.

SMU is my new ACC leader at No. 12 and in position for the No. 4 seed. The problem with Miami’s weak resume was that it couldn’t afford a bad loss, and it took one against Georgia Tech, dropping from No. 4 to No. 14. Miami’s best wins include Louisville and … Duke? Its early-season escapes against Cal and Virginia Tech don’t help. SMU also has wins against Louisville and Duke, plus its Pitt win (which doesn’t mean as much this week), and its lone loss is to undefeated BYU.

Colorado is up to No. 17 and controls its path to the Big 12 title game and a CFP spot after Saturday’s win at Texas Tech. Washington State is 8-1 and up to No. 18, but the path to an at-large spot might be just too far away. Still, the Cougars are having a great season and should feel good about it.

South Carolina jumps up to No. 20 after a dominant win against Vanderbilt. Army is also newly into this group at No. 22 after beating North Texas 14-3. The Black Knights went from zero wins against teams with a winning record to two over the weekend, thanks to this game and East Carolina’s win elsewhere. Arizona State grabs the No. 25 spot after beating UCF to move to 7-2.

GO DEEPER

Mandel’s Final Thoughts: Alabama got its act together and looks Playoff bound … again

26-50

Tulane has quietly been rolling and is up to No. 26, very much in the race for the Group of 5’s guaranteed Playoff bid if Boise State stumbles. Iowa State falls to No. 27 after a loss to Kansas, while Pitt drops to No. 28 after losing to Virginia, the second consecutive loss for both teams. 8-1 Louisiana might be too far behind to challenge for the G5 spot in the CFP, especially since its one loss was to Tulane, but the Ragin’ Cajuns look like the best team in the Sun Belt and are having a really good season, now up to No. 31.

Georgia Tech jumps up to No. 32 after beating Miami. Syracuse falls to No. 40 after losing to Boston College, while Iowa drops to No. 41 after a loss at UCLA. West Virginia’s win against Cincinnati sees the Mountaineers climb to No. 46.

GO DEEPER

Week 11 CFP race lessons: Mizzou in the ‘Playoff hunt’? One-bid ACC?

51-75

UCLA has really turned things around, winning three consecutive games and rising to No. 57 after sitting near the bottom of the Power 4 not long ago. NC State slips to No. 64 after losing to Duke. Kansas jumps up from No. 85 to No. 65 thanks to its win against Iowa State. No. 71 UConn is 7-3, its most wins since the Fiesta Bowl season of 2010, after beating UAB.

76-100

San Jose State’s win against Oregon State moves the Spartans up to No. 79 and the Beavers down to No. 80. Jacksonville State, No. 81, scored on a Hail Mary against Louisiana Tech and missed the game-winning extra point but won in overtime anyway to stay tied atop the Conference USA standings.

Oklahoma State’s collapse continued with a 38-13 loss to TCU, making it seven consecutive losses for the Cowboys, who have fallen to No. 85. Texas State beat ULM to move up to No. 84. The MAC pack continues, as Miami (Ohio), Ohio and Bowling Green all won, and Northern Illinois handed Western Michigan its first MAC defeat. Four teams are tied atop the conference standings at 4-1.

Has East Carolina turned things around since firing head coach Mike Houston? The Pirates are 2-0 under interim coach Blake Harrell and have scored a combined 105 points in wins against Temple and FAU, moving up to No. 97.

101-134

I haven’t become numb to seeing Florida State lose every week, now down to No. 103 after a 52-3 loss to Notre Dame. It’s still shocking every time. Mike Norvell got moving early in cleaning house, announcing Sunday that both coordinators had been fired. New Mexico is 4-6 and up to No. 109 after beating San Diego State. Nevada might be the best 3-8 team in the country — the Wolf Pack have now pushed SMU and Boise State to the limit in defeat this season.

Air Force beat Fresno State to move up to No. 126, and in a battle of one-win teams, UTEP beat Kennesaw State in overtime, leading to a coaching change at Kennesaw State. Kent State lost 41-0 to Ohio and remains winless and at the bottom of the rankings.

The Athletic 134 series is part of a partnership with Allstate. The Athletic maintains full editorial independence. Partners have no control over or input into the reporting or editing process and do not review stories before publication.

(Photo: Justin Ford / Getty Images)

Culture

Klay Thompson’s all-time legend moment, as remembered by the Warriors

Published

19 hours ago

November 12, 2024

Press Room

Klay Thompson’s all-time legend moment, as remembered by the Warriors

SAN FRANCISCO — The pinnacle act that defines Klay Thompson’s Bay Area legend, which will be celebrated Tuesday night at the San Francisco palace his dynasty contributions helped build, came on the final night in Oracle Arena across the water in Oakland.

For three quarters, he was the best player on the floor in Game 6 of the 2019 Finals: 30 points on 12 shots. Four 3s in his typical flame-throwing fashion. Four makes inside the arc because of a blossoming off-the-dribble game. Ten free throws, all makes, because he was attacking the rim with some extra playoff ferocity.

“The peak of his powers,” Steve Kerr said.

Thompson was feeling it enough — 10 points in the first 10 minutes of a frantic third quarter — that he went skying for a rare transition dunk to punctuate a nuclear personal run. That’s when Raptors wing Danny Green met him up top with a physical contest, knocking Thompson off balance and forever altering his career.

“One moment,” Joe Lacob said. “One nanosecond can change everything.”

The aftermath is best remembered for Thompson’s determination to brush the pain aside and continue. Trainers forced him toward the locker room. Kerr sent a messenger down the tunnel to relay word that Thompson must shoot the free throws to remain eligible for a return. He hobbled back to the floor and ignited one of the loudest Oracle eruptions ever in its final night, a tease that maybe he would be fine.

“That roar,” Kerr still remembers.

Thompson made both free throws and tried to shamble back on defense. But that wasn’t the plan. Kerr called for a DeMarcus Cousins take foul, gifting Pascal Siakam two free throws so Thompson could finally go to the back and get his knee checked. As he walked past Kerr, Thompson told him: “Give me two minutes.” He was determined to return for the start of the fourth quarter.

“That’s when they did the ACL test,” Kerr said. “I tore my ACL in college. The trainer can tell right away. They just put it up on a table and twist it a certain way. They know instantly.”

Word filtered back to Kerr early in the fourth that Thompson was done. Thompson exited the arena on crutches and was taken to a nearby hospital for testing before the final buzzer. The Warriors, up 85-80 when he disappeared, lost the lead and the game and the title in the fourth quarter.

“I honestly think if he doesn’t get hurt, we win the series,” Kerr said. “But that’s just what we have to believe. No disrespect to Toronto. They were the better team and earned it. Injuries are a part of it. But I will always believe if Klay had stayed healthy, we would’ve found a way. Because that’s what that team did.”

There are those in the organization who believe had he not torn the ACL during one of the greatest games of his life, triggering a torturous domino effect, Tuesday night’s welcome back ceremony in the NBA Cup opener never would’ve been necessary because he never would’ve worn another jersey. But he returns as a member of the Dallas Mavericks and leftover curiosity remains about how it ever got to this point.

The Warriors won four titles in eight years. That much success isn’t attached to many what-if scenarios. But Thompson’s horrid-luck knee injury generates the most painful, not only for the possible three-peat that never was but, more sympathetically, for the tragic ramifications delivered to Thompson’s career.

He wouldn’t play another NBA game for 941 days, missing his ninth, 10th and more than half of his 11th NBA seasons on the heels of five straight All-Star appearances, returning as a productive but understandably diminished player whose body needed far more routine maintenance.

“How old was he?” Kerr asked. “Twenty-nine?”

Yes. Thompson turned 29 four months before the ACL tear. He was 30 when, at the end of his ACL rehab process, he tore his Achilles, sending him into 14 more months of tedious rehab.

“That’s just so devastating,” Kerr said. “To me, 28, 29, 30, that’s when everything comes together — your mind, your experience, your body, your skill. I didn’t think he ever looked better. So that injury clearly was the pendulum swinging the other way in his career. He was still good. Still really good. Helped us win a championship (in 2022).”

But …

“Those next couple years (after the ACL), I think, would’ve been his absolute prime,” Kerr said. “That would’ve been the very best version of Klay. I think part of the reason he struggled so much with it emotionally is that he knew those years were ripped from him by the injuries. He was really at the apex of his game. That’s why it was so tough to see him suffer. He was so distraught at times, even last year. It was sad. To me, he’s just had a really difficult time reconciling the injuries.”

Thompson signed a five-year max extension a couple weeks after the 2019 ACL tear, an earned commitment to a living legend who had delivered so much production (and financial value) to the organization. He spent a large chunk of that next season mostly away from the Warriors, rehabbing out of Rick Celebrini’s view. Celebrini is the team’s respected lead medical decision-maker.

That was a mistake, Thompson would later admit, telling The Athletic in February 2022 that he was about 10 pounds above his normal playing weight when his Achilles popped during an unsanctioned pickup game in Los Angeles a month before his presumed return in 2020.

“I tried to go off on my own and do my own thing, seek out my own thing,” Thompson told The Athletic in 2023. “That backfired. Very badly. So I came crawling back to Rick. Very apologetic.”

Thompson was more present, more diligent, more patient during the second rehab process. But the agonizing wait wore on him. Cameras caught him in tears on the back of the bench during an April 2021 game. Steph Curry came over to console him. In November 2021, two months prior to his return, he sat on the bench for a half-hour postgame with a towel over his head, overcome with emotion.

It’s now been about 20 minutes since the game ended and Klay Thompson is still on the bench with a towel over his head pic.twitter.com/5bvnXjQgCO
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 27, 2021

The work proved worth it. Thompson returned from a pair of catastrophic mid-career leg injuries about as impressively as imaginable. He averaged 36 minutes and 19 points in a 22-game playoff run to the 2022 title. He led the league in 3s the next season. He made the fourth most the season after that.

But Thompson maintained an ambition to regain his All-Star form, to chase down the ghost of his former self, to recapture those prime years lost. It led to a level of shot-hunting that sometimes hijacked the offense and off-court brooding that impacted the mood in the locker room, team sources said throughout the season. He had the “four rings” outburst ejection in Phoenix and several behind-the-scenes conversations with teammates and Kerr about throttling back the shot selection, centering himself and exuding better energy.

“I had a conversation (with Kerr) about just enjoying the last chapter of my career and how lucky I truly am to be playing this game,” Thompson said after a January 2024 game. “Being a better mentor for the young guys. Leading by example and having my energy right every game. He helped me realize I do have negative energy and how that affects the team in a poor manner.”

The contractual context didn’t help. Thompson never liked the narrative that he owed the Warriors something for signing him to a max contract after the ACL tear, considering all he’d done before it. Warriors leadership would privately note that half of that max contract (2.5 years) was spent rehabbing.

Extension talks stalled prior to last season. There are differing stories on the authenticity of the two-year, $48 million reported offer. Thompson never felt a level of genuine desire from the front office or ownership to ensure a franchise legend remained around. When the summer came, they prioritized other pursuits and Thompson decided to depart before giving them a chance to circle back.

GO DEEPER

How Klay Thompson’s 13-year run with the Warriors splintered so unceremoniously

In his final season, bitterness had grown. Kerr began closing without Thompson on the floor on certain nights and replaced him with a rookie, Brandin Podziemski, in the starting lineup in February. These demotions stung and wounds still appear unhealed. When approached in Dallas back in the preseason, he declined to speak about it: “I’m not talking about the past,” Thompson said.

“There’s always stuff as a coach that, you know, you look back and you go, ‘Man, I wish I had done this or said that,’” Kerr said. “But there’s nothing that keeps me up at night. Everybody’s life and career arc is different. I think Klay made the right decision going to Dallas. Just seeing him the last couple of years, I think he needed a fresh start.”

As Kerr and Lacob made clear in separate interviews with The Athletic last week, nothing about the end should taint the greatness of Thompson’s run with the Warriors. He’s a statue player who will be welcomed with a celebration on Tuesday. The franchise is giving out Captain Klay hats to every fan in attendance.

Lacob’s first Thompson memory was in college. He’s a huge Stanford fan. He watched Thompson, a star at Washington State, drop 21 points in a road win in Maples Pavilion.

“My son Kent (currently in the front office) was young at the time,” Lacob said. “I remember him telling me: ‘If we don’t draft Klay Thompson, I’ll never talk to you again.’”

Lacob took control of the franchise in late 2010. Their first draft pick, 11th overall, came in June 2011. They’d just hired Jerry West to join the front office and consult on big personnel decisions. This was a major early moment. Lacob and West, among others, went down to Torrance, Calif., to watch Thompson work out.

“He did like maybe five minutes and Jerry said: ‘That’s the guy!’” Lacob recalled. “And I’m like: ‘You’ve only seen him for a couple minutes.’ Jerry said: ‘That’s the guy. That’s all there is to it.’ Maybe it was his shot. Maybe it was his footwork. It was so Jerry.”

West and Kerr were also among the strong advocates not to trade Thompson when Kevin Love became available in the summer of 2014. That’s considered one of the best non-trade decisions in league history. Thompson soon morphed into one of the best shooting guards in basketball and a perfect fit next to Curry. They won their first title the following June.

“Everyone knows the incredible shooting, kind of the unconscious nature of his play,” Kerr said. “He and Steph both share that. People know Captain Klay, China Klay, you know, the fun-hearted guy. But I don’t know that people understand what a killer competitor Klay is. Ultimately that’s what made him a champion.”

Lacob’s most memorable night is a predictable one. Game 6 in Oklahoma City. The Warriors were down 3-2 in that 2016 series and down eight heading to the fourth quarter. Thompson scored 19 in the fourth, hit 11 3s in the game and rescued the Warriors from elimination with a 41-point performance. As he returned to the locker room, Lacob famously bowed to him in the tunnel, a picture that Lacob sent to Thompson in one of his goodbye text messages after he departed for Dallas.

“The tunnel thing was sort of impromptu,” Lacob said.

Kerr’s favorite Thompson story to retell came during the 2017 Finals. JR Smith crashed into him during the first quarter of Game 1, causing a painful high ankle sprain. Thompson also took a knee directly to the thigh.

“He was wearing a sleeve or something and he takes the sleeve off and it was like black and blue and yellow and like, I mean, it was an injury that would have kept him out for at least two weeks in the regular season,” Kerr said. “And he didn’t miss a minute. To me, Klay’s competitive desire is his most underrated quality. At the peak of his powers, the way he guarded the ball and then moved off the ball year after year. He and Steph were one and two in most mileage per game in the NBA. His conditioning, his size, his ability to switch on to Kevin Love and big guys like that and guard them in the post. I mean you don’t do that unless you’re a great athlete, but also unless you care desperately about results and winning at the highest level.”

The Warriors’ charity foundation throws an annual poker event. At it, they put various items up for auction. In the lead-up to the event early this decade, they had the idea of offering a ride across the bay on Thompson’s famous boat from his house to the practice facility. Lacob called to ask. He was uneasy about the request.

“He was like, instantaneously: ‘Absolutely. I’d love to do that,’” Lacob said. “He actually was so enthusiastic about it. I didn’t know. That’s an invasion of someone’s privacy and personal space and time.”

On the night of the auction, the bidding went wild. Toward the end, two attendees were rocketing the price up, intent on acquiring this boat ride. While the bidding neared its final destination of $250,000 — a record for any item or offer at the event — Lacob approached Thompson.

“Would you be willing to do it … twice?” Lacob asked.

Thompson said yes.

“It was a half-million dollars to the foundation,” Lacob said. “He has a great heart. He’s a really good person. That’s what I’ll always remember about him.”

Thompson and Kerr had breakfast in Manhattan Beach in late June. Kerr made the drive up from San Diego. He wanted to reiterate to Thompson that, while everything was still in flux, he valued him and wanted him back. They talked a little about the contractual situation. Kerr laid out the reality of his future with the Warriors — it’d probably include a fluctuating role, perhaps off the bench.

“At the end of the breakfast, he said, ‘You know, I think it’s time. I think I’m going to go to Dallas,’” Kerr said. “I understood. I completely understood. Sometimes a fresh start can be healthy. I think it was the right decision for him.”

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Many within the Warriors had seen the move coming and had privately been predicting it for months. Lacob has maintained that it hit him as a surprise. The front office had hinted that the plan was to bring a market offer back to him later in free agency.

“To be honest with you, shocked,” Lacob said. “If you would’ve told me a few years ago, if there’s one person that I would have never thought that would ever leave the Warriors and would retire as a Warrior, I would probably (have said) Klay would be the highest likelihood.”

That reality never panned out. He returns to face the Warriors in a Mavericks jersey on Tuesday night.

“It’s weird seeing No. 31 (on it),” Curry said. “I hate that.”

“This will be as emotional as anything we’ve ever experienced, I think, in my time here,” Kerr said. “I think it’ll be even more emotional than his return to play. Obviously now there’s a finality to it and appreciation for everything he did hanging the banners, helping get the arena built, just being so beloved by everybody.”

“Some of the stuff we’re talking about here today is not a secret,” Lacob said. “People kind of understand from both sides some of the issues that, yeah, kind of happened. But I do think everyone still loves the history. You can’t take away what he meant to the franchise. Honestly, to me as an owner — very, very important. He’s the first guy we ever drafted. I’m not just saying this. I really did feel like he was a son … Regardless of anything — how it ended, didn’t end. Whatever. That doesn’t matter. It’s an important moment. An important day.”

What will Klay Thompson’s return on Tuesday be like?
Steph Curry: “I don’t know. We’ve had homecomings before, but nothing like this.” pic.twitter.com/NT34K1kKyg
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— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 11, 2024

Asked Klay Thompson about his return to San Francisco on Tuesday for his first game against the Warriors:
“It’ll be good to see people you grinded with obviously, but to me, it’s just another regular season game in November.” pic.twitter.com/Kf9KkUwfNP
— Mike Curtis (@MikeACurtis2) November 11, 2024

(Photo illustration: Meech Robinson/The Athletic; photos Sam Hodde / Getty Images, Gregory Shamus / Getty Images, Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images)