The 2022 NBA Finals are set to tip-off on 2nd June and both teams are gearing up for an action-packed series. The Golden State Warriors are making their 6th finals appearance in the last 8 years whereas the Celtics are ending a 12-year drought. Klay Thompson on the other hand is on his way to 6th straight shot at the chip and he has more than one reason to beat Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics.
The series will begin at home for the Warriors as they concluded the season with a better record. However, the Celtics have more momentum going from a terrific end to the regular season when Golden State was spiraling down due to injuries. Stephen Curry and co are well-rested whereas Boston played all seven games in the Eastern Conference semis and finals.
Media Day is conducted right before the NBA Finals where players and coaches get candid about everything that’s on the line and what the championship would mean for them. Klay Thompson revealed reasons beyond just the perfect culmination of a hard-fought season as his motivation to defeat the Cs.
The child in Klay Thompson is still rooting against Boston Celtics
There is no rivalry greater than that between LA Lakers and the Boston Celtics in the NBA. Right from the Bill Russell-Jerry West era in the 60s, Larry Bird-Magic Jonhson in the 80s, to Kobe Bryant and the Celtics ‘Big 3’ in the 2010s, these intense rivalries have shaped almost 70 years of NBA action.
Naturally, it had an effect on the generation of players currently in the league. Klay Thompson’s father Mychal Thompson played for the Lakers towards the end of his career. The Warriors guard was at an impressionable age then and ended up becoming a fan of that franchise.
As a result, the Lakers fan in him from back in the day has an additional source of motivation to defeat the Boston Celtics in the 2022 NBA Finals.
Klay Thompson grew up a Lakers fan and says “Twenty years later, I get to play the team I was rooting against.”
Thompson called his welcome-to-the-NBA moment when he played against Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in his rookie year after watching them play LA in Finals.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) June 1, 2022
The Golden State Warriors were not expected to be here after being knocked out of the play-in tournament last season. Instead of buying their way to the Finals like most teams they nurtured drafted talent and acquired just the right pieces to support their superstars. Klay Thompson sat out 2 and a half-season but the front office showed faith in him.
Thompson came up big in close-out games and is a major reason behind the Warriors reaching the Finals.