Steph Curry on Klay Thompson's Warriors Exit: 'Haven't Figured out the Emotions'

Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry is still coming to terms with the fact he'll no longer be sharing the floor with his now-former "Splash Brother," Klay Thompson.

"It's still weird, man," he told Andscape's Marc J. Spears. "I really haven't figured out the emotions yet just because it's one of those pieces that really won't sink in until you get into October and you go to the locker room and you're in your familiar sights and sounds of the Chase Center."

Curry added that Thompson, who landed with the Dallas Mavericks in a sign-and-trade, "made a decision that he felt was best for himself."

Everyone seems to be on the same page that Thompson leaving was difficult on an emotional level but the pragmatic course of action on basketball terms.

"I don't care what people think happened, or didn't happen," Warriors team governor Joe Lacob said on The Athletic NBA Show. "He will always be welcome in my life. I hope he feels the same. Honestly, I get a little teary-eyed about it. I hope we're going to be friends forever. And he's just going to be in Dallas for a few years and we'll have to kick his ass. But that's just the job. And I'm sure he feels the same way. That's called competition."

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne and Kendra Andrews reported how Thompson became "miserable" on multiple levels as his time in the Bay Area wound down. The five-time All-Star also reportedly reached out to Curry and Draymond Green to make sure they wouldn't lobby the Warriors on his behalf during contract negotiations.

This was always the fork in the road Golden State would reach sooner or later. It could choose to keep its three stars together for the duration of their careers, or it could try to put the strongest supporting cast possible around Curry in pursuit of another title.

The front office opted for the latter.

Many of the key figures from the Chicago Bulls' dynasty in the 1990s are still irritated with how their run came to an end if The Last Dance is any indication. General manager Jerry Krause dismantled the roster and let head coach Phil Jackson go before the Bulls could decline with their core.

The Warriors are evidence of how winding a dynasty down more gradually isn't much easier or emotionally satisfying, either.