The Steph Curry and Klay Thompson duo took on their NFL counterparts, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce, in The Match on Thursday night in Las Vegas.
Curry, an avid golfer, and Thompson were the betting favorites, but lost the match on the 10th hole to the two-time Super Bowl champions in the 12-hole match.
The celebrity golf match was for charity and fun. Curry and Thompson were joined on the links by teammate Draymond Green and the trio got plenty of friendly jabs at each other before and during the competition.
Green declined the player option on his contract with the Warriors on Thursday and it is likely he will sign another deal to contend for a few more titles alongside his longtime teammates, Curry and Thompson. Though Green will field offers from other teams during free agency. Curry seemed to bring up Green’s contract situation between putts on the sixth hole.
“Three more years, baby,” a mic’d up Curry said on the TNT broadcast. “C’mon, Draymond!”
While Green talked trash to Kelce and Mahomes and tried to pump up a struggling Thompson, TNT commentator Charles Barkley took a jab at Green from his seat at the play-by-play table.
“Draymond talk a lot for a guy who ain’t got no job,” Barkley said. “Dray, you going to Detroit on this red-eye tonight or you going back to the Bay?”
The Splash Brothers got off to a strong start on the first hole that ended with a tie and confidence Thompson’s game after a strong tee shot.
“There’s a lot of talk about his and my collective fear about Klay’s game,” Curry said. “Once Klay got off that tee box with a nice pop on that fairway we were all right.”
Thompson got philosophical: “I’ve learned in the game of golf you can’t get hung up on one great shot.”
Things spiraled for Team Splash Brother from there. The Chiefs duo won the next three holes and then up four on the fifth hole. Despite strong tee shots from Curry, Curry and Thompson couldn’t hit the clutch putts to get back in it, but remained optimistic as the match went on.
“This is why y’all have four championships, huh?” Kelce said. “You guys stay so optimistic.”
