Klay Thompson Comments on Anonymous Team Official Criticizing Warriors

ESPN The Magazine published  a piece on Oct. 19 (h/t Ethan Sherwood Strauss of ESPN.com) that examined how Draymond Green's attitude adversely affected the Golden State Warriors at times throughout their record-setting 2015-16 season, and Klay Thompson expressed frustration with some of the content Friday.  

Speaking to reporters after practice, Thompson said he took issue with a segment of the piece that quoted an anonymous team official who called the Warriors something to the effect of "cowards" for not stepping up and closing out the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals after Green was suspended for Game 5.  

CSN Bay Area's Monte Poole relayed Thompson's thoughts on the matter: 

"

That article pissed me off for this reason: If you're going to call someone a coward, how are you not going to put your name to that quote? It's easy to point to someone and call them a coward behind a shade of a shield. But why don't you put your name to it? Then you can call us cowards. That's fine. You can tell us that.

But to say we played like cowards, and you're not going to quote the guy who said it? That's weak to me, man. How are you going to quote Mo (Speights) and not anybody else? That actually got under my skin, because you call us cowards but you're not going to put your name to the quote? You know what I mean? You're not going to quote who said it? You're just going to say, oh, some executive said they're cowards? Get out of here. That made me mad.

"

Anthony Slater of the Bay Area News Group posted a video of Thompson discussing the quote with assembled media: 

Thompson declined comment for Strauss' piece, but former Warriors center Marreese Speights mentioned him as one of Green's primary adversaries on the practice court last season. 

ESPN The Magazine reported: "'Draymond f--ked up practice and s--t,' Speights said. 'Draymond's a good guy, but I think at the end of the day, it hurt the whole chemistry of the year.' One player in particular, he says, took much of the heat: 'Draymond and Klay got into it a lot.'"

When asked if he was mad about what Speights was quoted as saying, Thompson did not hold any resentment toward his ex-teammate. 

"No, I don't care," he said, according to Poole. 

While anonymous quotes may serve as a temporary source of frustration for Thompson and the Warriors, they will have plenty of avenues at their disposal to release anger in the weeks ahead. 

Golden State's season opener is slated for Tuesday night at Oracle Arena against the San Antonio Spurs. Kevin Durant will make his regular-season Bay Area debut for the defending Western Conference champions. 

The Warriors' opening slate also features clashes with the New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers before the Oklahoma City Thunder come to town Nov. 3 for one of the season's most highly anticipated showdowns.