The NBA champion of the Golden State Warriors received the 2022 ESPY Award for the ‘Best Comeback’ category and in his speech he dedicated touching words to Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who tragically died two years ago.
What just ended was an unforgettable season for Klay Thompsonbecause if the 32-year-old had previously won three NBA titles with the Golden State Warriorsgoing back to putting on the ring after everything he’s been through – the two worst injuries that can happen, Crusader and Achilles tendon, with an absence of 941 days from the court – is something that rewards the man as well as the player.
Klay Thompson with the 2022 NBA champion trophy
A return to the highest possible level that earned Thompson the ESPY Award 2022 under the heading ‘Best Comeback’, or best return of the year. The ESPY (Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly) awards are in the United States the equivalent in sport of Oscars for cinema or Grammys for music. In the evening there was a lot of the Warriors, awarded as the best team, with an award also to Steph Curry as the best NBA player, but the most touching moment was that of the awarding of the award to the other Splash Brother and his speech from the stage .
After the usual thanks to all the people close to him, Thompson has indeed dedicated wonderful words to the late Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna, who died with him in the helicopter crash of January 26, 2020. Klay recalled the times when he was a young boy and was lucky enough to witness Kobe’s feats on the pitch up close, being the son of the former Lakers player and commentator Mychal Thompson. At the time he had a front row seat to enjoy the best show in the world and now he understands how lucky he was.
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“The best memories I have from growing up in California were the times I went to Staples Center with my dad. I have had a privileged life – said Thompson – My dad was a commentator for the Lakers and I used to go to all the games much earlier just to see Kobe do his thing in the warm-up.“The Golden State champion revealed that he often read Kobe’s book as he worked like a damned man to recover from two injuries:”I read ‘Mamba Mentality’ every day during rehab“.
“I would like to thank the Bryant family, Vanessa and her three beautiful girls – I don’t know if Vanessa is out there watching – we think of Kobe and Gigi every day“Klay said heart in hand. Bryant’s widow attended the speech and was moved by it, posting it shortly after on her Instagram profile along with a message for the Warriors player: “Klay Thompson, you are a class act. Thanks for your support and love for Kobe, my Gigi and our family. Thanks for always including my Gigi when you think of Kobe. Congratulations“.
Kobe Bryant and his wife Vanessa with the Oscar won by the basketball player for his animated short film in 2018
Thompson, however, did not learn from Kobe Bryant just watching him as a young man on the sidelines or reading his book, the two also faced each other on the court. In total Los Angeles and Golden State have faced each other 12 times with both on the pitch. In particular, in 2014, in a couple of meetings, they unveiled very high level performances. On November 1st of that year, a young Thompson played one of the best games of his early career against Kobe and the Lakers. In 34 minutes of play, Klay had 41 points that night, with 14 of 18 from the field, leading the Warriors to victory. Bryant didn’t take long to reciprocate, however, as two weeks later he handed him 44 points in 31 minutes. Nobody can ever take that beauty out of their eyes, it’s forever.
