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When Klay Thompson Trash-Talked LeBron James and Instantly Regretted It During 2016 NBA Finals
With the Cleveland Cavaliers down 3-1 in the 2016 NBA Finals, Warriors’ Klay Thompson thought of getting under LeBron’s skin with slick trash talk, only to regret it soon after.
The 2016 NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors will always be remembered as one of the most dramatic finals series in NBA history. Their second straight finals encounter was arguably the most hyped finals series since 1998 when Michael Jordan won the championship in his final season with Chicago.
Looking to avenge their 2015 finals loss, LeBron’s Cavaliers were determined to reach the finals for another opportunity to make history. Despite the somewhat questionable mid-season ousting of David Blatt as head coach, the team remained in trusted hands as assistant coach Tyronne Lue took the reins.
Under Coach Lue, the team chemistry showed promise during the playoffs as the Cavaliers paced through the Eastern Conference with a 12-2 record.
Over in the Western Conference, the Warriors were dominating on a different level. Finishing their regular season campaign with 73 wins, they broke the Chicago Bulls 1995-96 season record of 72 wins.
In the playoffs, the Warriors cruised through the Houston Rockets and Portland Trail Blazers with an 8-2 record before going up against OKC. Durant alongside Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka dominated early in the conference finals before Steph Curry’s Warriors made the deserving comeback, taking the series 4-3.
Despite their shaky 2016 playoff run, the defending champions proved they were no slouch as they convincingly beat the Cavaliers in two of the first three games. Things became even more troubling for the Cavaliers after they lost the crucial game four, giving the Warriors a 3-1 finals lead.
At the time, teams had a 0-32 record in the NBA finals when they were down 3-1. No one thought that a miraculous comeback would ever be possible by LeBron and company. In the Game 4 post presser, an overconfident Klay Thompson took a dig at James with some slick trash talk:
“I don’t know how the man feels. But obviously, people have feelings and people’s feelings get hurt even if they are called a bad word. I guess his feelings just got hurt”.
Knowing what we know now, Klay should have stayed humble in victory. Instead, he unexpectedly awoke a dormant beast that eventually cost the Warriors a three-peat.
LeBron went into elite mode for the next three games and put up back-to-back 41-point double-doubles in games 5 and 6. In Game 7, the king scored a 27-point triple-double with three blocks and two steals to bring home the first NBA title.
No matter what basketball fans may say about LeBron James, 2016 will go down in history as one of the most successful individual seasons for the four-time champion.
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