The Dallas Mavericks will play the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night. While it is the first NBA Cup pool game for both teams, the bigger story is Klay Thompson’s return to San Francisco to play against his old team.

Thompson spent 13 years with the Warriors, winning four championships and making five All-Star Games to cement a Hall of Fame resume, and emotions are sure to be running high Tuesday night when he plays against his former team. . His new All-Star teammate Kyrie Irving shared some advice on how to handle them on Sunday after their game against the Nuggets.

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“The most important thing is the human aspect of emotions,” Irving said in his postgame news conference on Sunday. “It’s going to be crazy, man. You don’t know how to really feel because you’ve been in a routine with another team for so long. You know everyone, from upper management to security, every member of the team, every member you had a relationship with.” conversation game after game… You just start reflecting on all those intentional moments where you spent time with people who really want to win… Other than that, it’s just about having fun and being able to watch some of your old fans. in their face and say ‘Thank you’, and they They thank you in their own way too. You’ll see we all handle it differently… I just told Klay we have his back, just reiterating and reassuring him that it’s another game on our road trip, but we know how much it means to ( him), and We will have to bring out our emotions too.

The Mavericks are Irving’s fourth team in his NBA career, playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets before being traded to Dallas, so he knows homecoming games. He’s struggled in games in Boston since leaving there and may help Thompson overcome some of the nerves and emotions of a game like this.

Thompson has struggled in his last few games, making just two of his last 13 attempts from three-point range. He will want to prove that the Warriors made a mistake by letting him go and hopes to be able to shoot better than he has recently.

Dallas and Golden State will kick off around 9 pm CST on TNT.

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