The denouement of Klay Thompson and perhaps the Warriors as we knew them

Klay is benched for a 20-year-old in a win, and is effortlessly Klay in response.

The Artist’s Despair Before the Grandeur of Ancient Ruins; Henry Fuseli; 1778-79

The Warriors led the Nets by six with about seven minutes to go in the game. Steve Kerr pulled Klay Thompson, who’d started the fourth and played about 30 minutes, for Moses Moody, who quickly made way for Brandin Podziemski. The Warriors extended their lead and Klay never got back in the game. Kerr closed with Podz, Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Jonathan Kuminga and Gui Santos.

Podziemski is 20. Kuminga and Santos are 21. This is the youth infusion the Warriors have desperately needed to help prop up the aging dynasty centered around Steph.

So how did Klay take the rotation decision? It’s not the first time Klay closing games has been in question this season, and if anything this season has been marked with the older Warriors coming to terms with their basketball mortality, with Green claiming he considered retirement amid his indefinite suspension and rumors swirling about the franchise considering trades for its veteran players not named Steph.

You’d expect Klay to be candid. And you’d be right. (Brief language warning if you are watching this video in court or a children’s hospital.)

Tim Bontemps wrote up the comments after helping draw them out, if you prefer print.

Thompson heralds how well the younger guys played and, especially, how hard they worked. He’s also honest that he feels a weight from watching his role change so dramatically. It’s a sad, beautiful moment laying clear basketball mortality and the psychic weight it holds.

I think many Warriors fans would argue that Kerr has been too slow in shifting more responsibility — including in endgame situations — to the younger set of players. Kuminga’s a flashpoint in that his role has been teased mercilessly as Kerr and his staff try to mold him into the player they need. The combination of advancing age for the vets, the team’s increasing desperation to stay relevant and perhaps lessons learned from the James Wiseman and Kuminga experiences are leading to a different situation for players like Podziemski, who it would seem is getting a more consistent chance to show he belongs on the court.

This is a very complicated locker room and a very complicated roster. Andrew Wiggins didn’t play on Monday. The latest rumors have the Mavericks and Pacers interested in his services. Wiggins was the bridge player in the two timelines: a better-than-solid two-way player who wouldn’t necessarily block a rising star’s progress or require too big a share of the veteran stars’ remaining spotlight. Wiggins has been a nightmare for a full basketball year now, either unavailable or ineffective.

There’s also an odd thread to yank on regarding Jordan Poole’s rise and exile. There was a young player that Kerr put in big situations, a player unwilling to defer to veterans either on the court or in practice court trash talk, a player vital to the team’s most recent championship. And we see what happened there: punched in the dome, traded for parts.

Grace hasn’t really been this dynasty’s calling card, but perhaps Klay Thompson’s winding descent can change that.

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Scores

Mavericks 118, Sixers 102 — Kyrie Irving is back in action after missing six games. The Mavs are 16-12 with him and 11-11 without him this season. They still don’t have their best starting five available, though (Dante Exum and Dereck Lively didn’t play).

Philadelphia is solidly down in fifth place in the East now.

Kings 110, Cavaliers 136 — Sacramento ran out of juice on its long road trip, and the team’s five games leading into the All-Star break are a challenge: vs. Detroit, vs. Denver, at OKC, at Phoenix, at Denver.

Cleveland, meanwhile, has claimed the No. 2 seed in the East in a virtual tie with Milwaukee. J.B. Bickerstaff has his staggers locked in, with Evan Mobley and Darius Garland hitting the bench first and taking on the start of the second quarter with Jarrett Allen sticking with Donovan Mitchell. It’s really clicking. The one player who needs to re-find his role is Dean Wade. In any case: Cleveland is floating. You love to see it.

Add Don to the list.

Lakers 124, Hornets 118 — L.A. started the Grammys road trip 23-23 and finish 27-25. That’s real, non-zero progress in a race in which slivers matter. They also get a nice break here with no games until Thursday, which happens to be the trade deadline day.

Brandon Miller is on a nice run the past few weeks.

Warriors 109, Nets 98

Clippers 149, Hawks 144 — Atlanta’s offense is on fire of late, but this is the second game in less than two weeks that they’ve lost despite scoring more than 140 in regulation. (The Luka 73 game is the other.) For the season, the Hawks are tied with the Wizards for the third-worst defense in the league. Only the Pistons and Hornets are worse. Just a brutal failure by that roster and coaching staff to not find something that works even a little on defense.

(The Clippers’ defense is no great shakes, either. The upside there is a belief that it will be able to lock in once you get to slower-paced playoff games.)

I consider Kawhi such a Kobe-styled soloist that I had never really considered how much he’d benefit offensively from Harden’s presence. This team is pretty incredible. They went 6-1 on their Grammys trip. It’s a bummer we don’t get to see them against Denver again until April, in a game that might not matter. They do visit both OKC and Minnesota in the next month. Circling those games.

Raptors 100, Pelicans 138 — Toronto had that little 3-1 spurt after trading O.G. Anunoby for R.J. Barrett and Immanuel Quickley. Remember that? The Raptors are 2-12 since then. Just a brutally bad team now. This is the worst Raptors team since … 2011? I think they’ll end up lower in the standings than every team but Detroit, San Antonio, Washington and Charlotte.

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Schedule

All times Eastern. Looking forward to the Grayson Allen revenge game late!

Rockets at Pacers, 7
Mavericks at Nets, 7:30, TNT
Magic at Heat, 7:30
Grizzlies at Knicks, 7:30
Timberwolves at Bulls, 8
Thunder at Jazz, 9
Bucks at Suns, 10, TNT

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Be excellent to each other.