Klay Thompson Diary

Courtesy of Rusty Simmons 

We’re in Barcelona now after starting the Spain part of our trip in Gran Canaria and then playing our first five games in Bilbao. This is a beautiful spot of the world. Gran Canaria was more of a vacation town, you could see the history in Bilbao, and Barcelona feels like a city that never sleeps.

In Bilbao, it was green and had trees everywhere. There was great artwork and buildings that felt like they had been there for 100s and 100s of years. We didn’t have much down time there, because we played five games in six nights, but everyone was really welcoming. They love their futbol, but they also love basketball and proved that the game is global.

My Spanish-speaking game is not good, but it’s not bad, either. When you talk to the people, it sounds so good and so fast. But I can get around town. I know how to ask directions, but I’m far from fluent.

The games have been really fun, and the atmosphere created by the fans has been great. Especially in the Finland game, there were like 8,000 people standing, cheering and whistling the entire game. The World Cup is a big deal for people from other countries, but you see a lot of Americans, too. You see a lot of Steph Curry jerseys, for sure.

I don’t know how I let Mason Plumlee get No. 11. I guess it was kind of random. I definitely like playing in No. 11 more than No. 5, but it’s just a number. Having USA on the front of the jersey means a lot more.

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You can probably see on TV how slick the FIBA ball gets when it gets wet. The NBA ball seems to absorb moisture better, so that has been an adjustment.

The other big differences in the international game seem to be more spacing and passing. It can be tougher to get into the lane, because there is no defensive three seconds. I think we’re all making the adjustments and playing hard.

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Playing for Coach K (Krzyzewski) is great. I had been around him a little bit before, especially playing with the Select Team. We all have a lot of respect for him. He really knows the game. He always looks you straight in the eyes and tells you the truth.

Everybody on the team has gotten pretty close. It’s a brotherhood. We spend a lot of time in the hotels’ hospitality rooms as a group, and some of us break off to go to dinner and stuff.

DeMarcus Cousins always has us laughing about something. He’s just a really funny guy. You can probably even see it on TV. He has us all laughing on the bench during games sometimes.

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We’ve pretty much adjusted to the time difference now, but I did have to wake up at about 5 a.m. to draft my fantasy football team one morning. It’s a once-a-year thing, so it was worth it.

I didn’t have anyone who played in the opener Thursday night, so I’m really looking forward to Sunday’s games. That’s always the most fun week of the year, because you think your team is good, but you don’t really know until they play that first week.

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Oh, I forgot to tell you about meeting Rory McIlroy. This was way back in New York, right before we flew to Spain. It was really cool.

I usually don’t take pictures with celebrities, but I made an exception for the best golfer in the world. You know how much I’m working on my golf game. He was really laid back and normal, so that was cool.