Bad Juju: The Warriors Apparently Banned 'Fake Klay Thompson' Because He Snuck Into Chase Center To Get Some Shots Up
[SF Gate] - For the first time in a long time, Warriors folk hero Fake Klay Thompson was spotted outside of Chase Center on Monday. A stalwart of the Warriors' 2015, 2017 and 2018 NBA title runs, Fake Klay — who is portrayed by YouTube prankster Dawson Gurley — has been a topic of conversation during previous ESPN broadcasts and Steve Kerr media sessions. ("I turned around and I was like, 'Klay, did you eat a few extra burgers?'" Kerr once joked.) Fake Klay has shown up to everything from Finals games to ring ceremonies, to the delight of NBA fans.
Gurley tweeted two hours before tip-off on Monday that he had been banned for life from Chase Center. Has he actually? Who knows. Chase Center officials couldn't be reached to confirm the banning prior to publication (they were likely busy getting ready for Game 5 of the NBA Finals). According to Gurley, he was banned after walking past five layers of security guards "who willingly let me through security without asking for ID," at which point he says he shot around on the court "for 10 minutes."
Gurley then shared what he said was the official letter along with the ban, which appears to be signed by Chase Center's vice president of security, Brian J. Herbert, which is the name of the actual Chase Center vice president of security.
Alright before we get into it, let's get two things out of the way. 1) I'm on high alert for the fact that this might be fake. But it's out in some real publications so we're going with reportedly. 2) This guy kind of does suck. I clicked on his YouTube for 30 seconds to see if he had a video of it and I want to stick multiple forks in my eyes.
Okay got that out of the way, onto the story.
Here's what apparently got fake Klay Thompson banned from Chase Center:
I don't blame the guy for this. Getting shots up, especially in an arena, is a must. If you're a person who has played even the slightest bit of basketball you know exactly what I'm talking about. You pass a hoop with a ball, you do the little clap and hands out ready to shoot, get the pocket ready and go. This guy just happens to look like Klay Thompson (and kind of mixed with Mark Jackson?)
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I don't even blame the Warriors for banning this guy, but you can't do it now. This is bad juju. You're one game away from winning the NBA Finals with a potential game 7 at your place. You need to have all the right stuff going for you. This guy was part of the runs a few years ago. Why not keep that going?
You gotta do whatever it takes to keep real Klay Thompson hot. I know Wiggins was the star yesterday but Klay hitting those threes and finding his groove while Steph looked like a JV player was just as important. He hit 5 of the 9 threes for the Warriors. He went for 21. If you get that from Klay and then a hot Steph, the Warriors should win this no problem.
PS: stop calling yourself a YouTube prankster. That legit might be my least favorite thing in the world. Just lean into the fake Klay bit way more.