Warriors lobby for Klay Thompson's return after play-in loss - ESPN

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson headed to the bench with 2:13 remaining in their play-in game against the Sacramento Kings, his head hung low. He made a round of hugs with team trainers and teammates before he took his seat. After the final buzzer sounded, he took a moment before exiting the court — doing a 360-degree turn and looking back at the Kings lighting the beam at center court.

It was possibly the last time Thompson ever stood on the court in a Warriors uniform.

The 118-94 loss to the Kings sends Golden State into its earliest offseason in three years. And it sends Thompson into unrestricted free agency.

«We need Klay back,» Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after the game. «He's still got good years left. And I know I speak for everybody in the organization: We want him back… what Klay has meant to this franchise and as good as he still is, we desperately want him back.»

Thompson didn't speak after the game, but at shootaround seven hours before the game tipped off, Thompson said it wasn't difficult to keep the thoughts of free agency out of his mind as he finished the season.

«That's life,» Thompson said. «Had so much success here, I'm not gonna let whatever future happens make me salty about what I've been able to accomplish in a Warriors uniform. I don't let that seep in at all.»

Thompson's season finale left a lot to be desired, as he was held scoreless on 0-of-10 shooting from the field, including 0-of-6 from 3. It was just the fifth time in Thompson's career that he failed to score one point. It was his second time under Kerr, but the other was when he was ejected 1:43 into a Nov. 23 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

It was a performance Kerr said was tough to watch