Klay Thompson offers thoughtful farewell to Warriors, fans in Instagram post

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Klay Thompson offers thoughtful farewell to Warriors, fans in Instagram post

2024-07-06 10:06 Last Updated At：10:10

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Klay Thompson offered a farewell message to the Bay Area and Golden State fans after departing the Warriors in free agency this week to join the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million contract.

On Instagram, Thompson posted to his 17.1 million followers Friday a photo of himself holding his new No. 11 jersey from after being drafted by the Warriors in 2011 with the 11th overall selection out of Washington State.

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FILE - Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) scores past San Antonio Spurs guard Devin Vassell, right, during the second half of an NBA basketball game in San Antonio, Monday, March 11, 2024. Klay Thompson is moving on from the Golden State Warriors, with the four-time league champion agreeing to join the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks and change franchises for the first time in his 13-year NBA career, two people with knowledge of the decision said Monday, July 1, 2024.(AP Photo/Eric Gay, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Klay Thompson offered a farewell message to the Bay Area and Golden State fans after departing the Warriors in free agency this week to join the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million contract.

FILE - Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) shoots a 3-point basket over Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game April 7, 2024, in San Francisco. Thompson has been a pillar of the Warriors dynasty that won four NBA titles the past decade champions. Whether he will be part of the franchise as the team looks to rebound after missing the playoffs remains unknown. (AP Photo/Nic Coury, File)

FILE - Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson gestures after making a 3-point basket against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Los Angeles. Klay Thompson is moving on from the Golden State Warriors, with the four-time league champion agreeing to join the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks and change franchises for the first time in his 13-year NBA career, two people with knowledge of the decision said Monday, July 1, 2024.(AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Klay Thompson offers thoughtful farewell to Warriors, fans in Instagram post

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Klay Thompson offered a farewell message to the Bay Area and Golden State fans after departing the Warriors in free agency this week to join the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million contract.

FILE - Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson (11) shoots a 3-point basket over Utah Jazz guard Collin Sexton, left, during the first half of an NBA basketball game April 7, 2024, in San Francisco. Thompson has been a pillar of the Warriors dynasty that won four NBA titles the past decade champions. Whether he will be part of the franchise as the team looks to rebound after missing the playoffs remains unknown. (AP Photo/Nic Coury, File)

FILE - Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson gestures after making a 3-point basket against the Los Angeles Lakers during the second half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, April 9, 2024, in Los Angeles. Klay Thompson is moving on from the Golden State Warriors, with the four-time league champion agreeing to join the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks and change franchises for the first time in his 13-year NBA career, two people with knowledge of the decision said Monday, July 1, 2024.(AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Klay Thompson offers thoughtful farewell to Warriors, fans in Instagram post

“Oh Bay Area, there are not enough words and images to convey how I really feel about yall,” Thompson wrote. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for the best times of my life. It was such an honor to put that Dubs jersey on from day 1. I really just wanted to be the best I could be and help bring as many championships as possible to the region. The best part was not the rings though, it was the friendships I made that will last a lifetime.”

The 34-year-old Thompson won four championships with the Warriors alongside Splash Brother Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The veteran guard missed more than 2 1/2 years — the entire 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons — recovering from surgeries on his left knee and right Achilles before returning in January 2022 and calling the recoveries from consecutive injuries one of the hardest and most grueling things he'd ever done.

Curry had hoped to keep playing with Thompson as they made up one of the NBA's best backcourts.

“Gonna miss you (at)klaythompson,” Curry shared in his own Instagram post Tuesday. “Even though we won’t finish the journey together, what we did will never be done again. Couldn’t have imagined a better run with you and (Draymond Green). Changed the whole Bay Area. Changed the way the game is played. Killa Klay at the center of it all. Thank you for everything bro. Go enjoy playing basketball and doing what you do. Splash Bros 4 life my guy.”

Thompson had a frustrating 0-for-10 shooting performance in a 118-94 loss at Sacramento in the play-in tournament that ended the Warriors season without a playoff berth after they won the 2022 NBA title. He said when the season ended he wanted to chase a fifth championship before his career is done.

Several times Thompson had expressed his desire to stay with Golden State for his entire career, saying earlier this year, “I would love to be a Warrior for life.”

Instead, the emotional Thompson is moving on with the Mavericks.

Thompson, a regular boater and bay swimmer who loved to sport a captain's hat that earned him the nickname “Captain Klay,” also expressed his gratitude to Golden State — with a trio of hashtags: #foureverchamps, #splashbros4life and #oaklandforever.

“My family and I would like to thank all ok the amazing people who work tirelessly to make the (at)Warriors organization world-class,” he said. “Don't be sad it's over, be happy it happened. Until we meet again. Sea captain out.”

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In Michigan, Harris doesn't get hoped-for firefighters endorsement amid shifting labor loyalties

2024-10-05 08:43 Last Updated At：08:50

REDFORD TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) — It was the perfect place to welcome the endorsement of the firefighters union — a gleaming new firehouse in a blue-collar town just outside of Detroit in the key battleground state of Michigan.

But by the time Kamala Harris showed up in Redford Township on Friday, there was no endorsement waiting for her.

By a slim margin, the International Association of Firefighters declined to back any candidate, a reminder of the Democratic nominee’s struggle to lock down the same support from organized labor that President Joe Biden won four years ago. The Teamsters also balked at an endorsement last month.

Harris is still gaining more endorsements than she’s losing. National teachers unions, building trade unions, the AFL-CIO and the United Auto Workers backed the vice president shortly after Biden ended his run for a second term. And the leader of the Michigan firefighters union, Matthew Sahr, showed up for Harris in Redford Township — although not to bestow the endorsement.

"We could have chosen to stay away. But what kind of message would that send?” Sahr said.

A spokesman for the union declined Friday to comment beyond a previously released statement that said there would be no endorsement for Harris or her opponent, former President Donald Trump.

“The vice president is proud to have the support of organized labor, including firefighters across key battlegrounds like those who joined her in Michigan Friday,” said Harris campaign spokesman Brian Fallon. “She is the only candidate in this race who always stands with workers and has fought to protect overtime pay, worker pensions, and the right to organize.”

What unfolded nonetheless reflects the shifting loyalties in American politics as Harris vies with Trump for support among working-class voters who for years could be more solidly counted on to support Democrats.

Still, Harris didn't mince words when she spoke at the firehouse, saying Trump "has been a union-buster his entire career” and would launch a “full-on attack” against organized labor.

Harris said Trump supports “right-to-work” laws that often make it more difficult to unionize, and said he had weakened federal employees’ unions. While he was president, Trump used a series of 2018 executive orders designed to reduce those unions’ powers to collectively bargain.

He has expressed support for right-to-work since his initial run for president in 2016 — while also making comments more generally supportive of labor rights when speaking to union audiences since then.

Harris also accused the former president of “making the same empty promises to the people of Michigan that he did before, hoping you will forget how he let you down.”

Her remarks followed U.S. dockworkers suspending their strike in hopes of reaching a new contract, sparing the country a damaging episode of labor unrest that could have rattled the economy. A tentative agreement that has been hailed by Harris was reached to raise salaries, although other issues still need to be resolved.

The vice president later addressed an evening rally in Flint. She spoke after basketball legend Magic Johnson, who said “nobody is going to outwork her,” and UAW President Shawn Fain, who described Trump as “a scab.”

Harris said that, unlike what Trump says about the Biden administration’s rules on electric vehicles, “I will never tell you what kind of car you have to drive.”

“But here’s what I will do, I will invest in communities like Flint,” she said.

Harris also criticized Trump and his running mate, JD Vance, after Vance, while campaigning in Michigan on Wednesday, refused to commit to continue federal support going to a GM plant in Lansing, Michigan's state capital.

“Donald Trump's running mate suggested that if Trump wins, he might let the Grand River Assembly Plant in Lansing close down,” Harris said as the crowd booed.

She said that, by contrast, the Biden administration had fought to keep the plant open, adding, “Michigan, we, together, fought hard for those jobs and you deserve a president who won't put them at risk.”

Questions remain, though, about whether Harris can cement backing from most rank-and-file union members.

Justin Pomerville, the business manager at UA Local 85 in Michigan, said 70% of his members’ work hours are tied to the CHIPS and Science Act, which the Biden administration championed and pumped billions of dollars into semiconductor manufacturing.

The workers lay complex networks of pipes that carry exhaust, water and chemicals through high-tech facilities. However, Pomerville said some members aren’t aware of the connection between their jobs and the legislation.

“Unless someone tells them they’re working because of that, they don’t know,” he said.

The Democrats, meanwhile, have increased their support among white-collar professionals while Republicans try to make inroads among voters who didn’t attend college.

During a rally in Saginaw, Michigan, on Thursday, Trump said Republicans are now “the party of the American worker,” glossing over his anti-union record as president.

The former president also made a trip to Flint last month in an event billed as focusing on the auto industry, a pillar of the battleground state. The two candidates have been in the same cities — and in some cases the exact same venues — within days or weeks of each other.

Trump spent Friday in Georgia with Gov. Brian Kemp, the latest sign that he's patched up his rocky relationship with the top Republican in a key battleground state. The former president and the governor appeared in Evans, Georgia, standing before pallets of goods including bottled water, diapers and paper towels.

“I have no doubt that whatever can be done is going to be done," Trump said. "It’s a lot of effort. It’s a very heartbreaking situation.”

Later Fri day, he held a town hall in Fayetteville in another storm-ravaged state, North Carolina. Speaking to an audience comprised largely of people with military connections, he pledged to change the name of nearby Fort Liberty back to its prior name, Fort Bragg. The base, one of the U.S. military's largest, was rechristened in 2022 in a push to rename military installations named for Confederate service members.

Trump repeated his promise to fire “woke generals," blasted the Biden administration's chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and said he'd make it easier for veterans to seek medical care outside the Veterans Administration health care system.

One man, introduced as a Vietnam War veteran named Dwight, gave Trump the Purple Heart he was awarded for injuries sustained while serving. He referenced the bullet that grazed Trump's ear during a rally in Pennsylvania and Trump's response.

“I couldn’t think of anybody more deserving to have a Purple Heart," Dwight said to Trump. "You took it, you laid down there, you got back up and the first words out of your mouth were ‘fight, fight, fight.’ You didn’t even have anything to shoot back at him.”

Trump got a series of deferments to avoid the draft during the Vietnam War, including one obtained with a physician’s letter saying he had bone spurs in his feet. In the 1990s, he said trying to avoid sexually transmitted infections was “my personal Vietnam.”

Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Meg Kinnard in Fayetteville, North Carolina and Jonathan J. Cooper in Phoenix contributed.