Klay Thompson

Klay admits he never spoke to Steph during rookie season

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Believe it or not, it took years for Klay Thompson and Steph Curry to form a relationship as Warriors teammates.

Thompson joined NBA star Paul George on the latest episode of "Podcast P with Paul George," where he was asked to share a story about his first season playing with Curry, which happened to be Thompson's 2011-12 rookie season. Not only was Thompson unable to recall any interesting stories, but also he admitted the two stars did not develop a relationship right away.

"I don't think me and Steph said a word to each other, to be honest," Thompson said. "Steph only played 20 games that year, I was riding the bench the first three games of the year, I was a shooter off the bench backing up Monta [Ellis] and Dorrell [Wright] and stuff. Your rookie year is just one big learning experience, you don't know what to expect one night. I'm like coach [Mark] Jackson's punching bag at times because I'm the rookie which is fine, I can take it.

"I don't really have that many stories about Steph from my rookie year because we didn't really speak that much. I was so quiet. When you're a rookie you don't want to step on the vets' toes. I was like the anti-Draymond, Draymond came in he was just yapping the whole time, and he was making his presence felt. I was just kind of in the background like I'm going to do my work like a quiet assassin and just observe."

Of course, Thompson and Curry eventually formed a close relationship, which, coincidentally, began off the court.

"Our relationship didn't really build until our third year when we played with Team USA and finally hung out off the court because we had nothing else to do," Thompson shared. "We were in the Canary Islands and we had nothing else to do so we went and played golf. We finally got to know each other on the golf course and that's where I learned, 'Man this dude's a two-sport athlete.' "

And the rest was history.

Curry and Thompson went on to win four championships with the Warriors, forming arguably the greatest shooting backcourt in NBA history while earning an iconic nickname synonymous with their historic 3-point shooting. Their relationship might have taken a while to develop, but now the Splash Brothers are as inseparable as any duo in sports.

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