Things got a little heated between Klay Thompson and Devin Booker when the Golden State Warriors and the Phoenix Suns went head-to-head last October. The pair went at one another during the game, to the point that Thompson got ejected and chirped at the Suns bench as he made his way into the locker room.
Prior to getting tossed, Thompson kept holding up four fingers for Booker, signifying that he has four rings and the Suns star hasn’t won anything yet. It’s a reliable piece of trash talk that we’ve seen from athletes in a number of sports over the years, but as Thompson explained on “Podcast P with Paul George,” he regrets doing that for a pretty interesting reason.
Good chance you won’t see Klay flexing his 4 rings to opponents again
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— Podcast P with Paul George (@PodcastPShow) August 7, 2023
“Yeah, I was in my feelings, though, and Book was busting my ass that day, I was not where I needed to be,” Thompson said when George brought up his run-in with Booker. “Stuff doesn’t age well, and that didn’t age well for me. I don’t need to be flexing four rings, bro, everybody knows that, that’s on Wikipedia. My game wasn’t where it was at, and we all get insecure at times. I’m man enough to admit that we all have our moments of weakness. I’m not really proud of that one, cause I see Devin Booker and I should be proud of this young man, the work he’s put in, he survived a tough regime in Phoenix where everyone’s getting traded, he’s playing for a new coach every year, but now, he’s a franchise player cause he kept working. So, I admire the guys who have work ethic like that.”
It’s good to see that Thompson has this kind of perspective on things, especially because it was clear last year how much his inability to play at the level he was accustomed before his injuries weighed on him. Whether or not he regrets doing the same thing to the Memphis Grizzlies, however, remains to be seen.