New father Lee joins Thompson for scrimmage
PHOENIX — Damion Lee provided Klay Thompson a running mate in a scrimmage with the Warriors’ G League franchise Tuesday afternoon in Santa Cruz.
Lee missed his third straight game with the big club Tuesday night as he and his wife welcomed their first child.
Daxon Wardell-Xavier Lee was born Friday.
“No words are enough to describe the bliss of having my sweet son here,” new mom
Sydel Curry Lee posted on Instagram.
With the Warriors on the road, Lee headed to Santa Cruz, planning to regain his conditioning in time to rejoin the big club for Friday’s home game against Phoenix.
A consistent contributor off the bench this season for the Warriors, Lee is averaging 8.9 points on 35.2% 3-point shooting, but Thompson didn’t look for him on the final play of the scrimmage.
According to video taken by Sea Dubs play-by-play voice Kevin Danna, Lee was running down the right sideline in the final seconds of the scrimmage, with the score tied 81-81.
Instead of making the pass, Thompson coolly dribbled over the timeline and stepped into a game-winning 3-pointer — a shot that continued hopes that he might be less than a month from returning.
“I heard Klay looked good, and he continues to improve,” said Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who had yet to see the scrimmage. “Conditioning, stamina and all of that continues to get better by the day. It was a good day for Klay.”
Coaching quips: Both head coaches had interesting comments about their opponent’s star before the Warriors and Suns played Tuesday night.
Kerr was struck by the competitiveness of Devin Booker while coaching the Phoenix guard on the gold medal-winning U.S. team in the Tokyo Olympics.
“That’s what I loved about him — the fact that he was willing to fly to Tokyo on the heels of a loss in the NBA Finals,” Kerr said. “Losing in the Finals is devastating. It’s tough to get off the mat. The fact that he was willing to fly halfway across the world and compete right away in the Olympics showed a lot about his character and competitive desire.”
When asked what he thought of Stephen Curry’s ability to find a fraction of a second to get off a shot, Suns head coach Monty Williams said: “I don’t like it. That’s what I think about it. It’s hard to guard. … I respect it, but I don’t care for it when you’ve got to compete against it.”