Klay Thompson is the latest Bay Area sports legend to defect for a Dallas-based team.
Another Californian is packing up and leaving for Texas.
Say what you will about residential relocation motives, but in terms of sports, it’s a storied and strange pipeline that Klay Thompson will enter July 6 when he can officially sign the deal.
Thompson is certainly not the first nor will he be the last Bay Area sports legend to take his career to the Lone Star State.
After arriving as a 2011 first-round pick and helping shoot the Warriors to four NBA titles, Thompson is reportedly leaving in free agency for the Dallas Mavericks. He’s scoring a three-year, $50 million deal.
That money could go a long way almost anywhere. So, Texas? Ugh.
“Trade nothing to Dallas ever,” Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young tweeted last summer, when the 49ers shipped 2021 draft bust Trey Lance to the Cowboys.
Yes, the 49ers-Cowboys rivalry is on a more championship-laden level than the Warriors-Mavs, the Giants-Rangers, the A’s-Rangers, the Sharks-Stars and the Earthquakes-FC Dallas feuds.
Then again, the Warriors did beat the Mavericks in the 2022 Western Conference Finals — and Thompson scored 32 points while shooting 8-of-16 from 3-point range in that close-out Game 5 — en route to their fourth NBA championship with him, Steph Curry and Draymond Green as their legendary trifecta.
Any California export to Texas can merit a cringe. State taxes surely couldn’t have swayed Thompson, who made over $266 million in his Warriors career. Heading down to Dallas is easier to digest from a rivalry standpoint than heading south to the Los Angeles Lakers, for whom his father played and now calls games on radio.
Here are three notable Bay Area-to-Dallas moves over the years from each of the major men’s pro franchises, with apologies for overlooking an old-timer or two, and for excluding players whose career had a layover elsewhere before arriving in Dallas:
WARRIORS
Harrison Barnes 2012-16 Warriors, ’16-19 Mavericks
Erick Dampier 1997-2004 Warriors, ’04-10 Mavericks
Antawn Jamison 1998-03 Warriors, ’03-04 Mavericks
49ERS
Deion Sanders 1994 49ers, 1995-99
Charles Haley 1996-91 49ers, 1992-96 Cowboys, ’98-99 49ers after 1-year retirement in 1997
J.D. Smith 1956-64, Cowboys 1965-66
*Hall of Famer Terrell Owens spent 2004-05 with the Eagles between stints with the 49ers (1996-2003) and Cowboys (2006-07)
GIANTS
Will Clark 1986-93 Giants, ’94-98 Rangers
Bengie Molina 2007-10 Giants, 2010 Rangers
Hunter Pence 2012-18 Giants, 2019 Rangers, ’20 Giants
ATHLETICS
Jose Canseco 1985-92 A’s, ’92-94 Rangers
Bert Campaneris 1968-76 A’s, ’77-79 Rangers
Claudell Washington 1974-76 A’s, ’77-78 Rangers
SHARKS
Joe Pavelski 2006-19 Sharks, 2019-24 Stars
Antti Niemi 2010-15 Sharks, 2015-17 Stars
Artus Irbe 1991-96 Sharks, 1996-97 Stars
*Hall of Famer Ed Belfour had a 1996-97 stint with the Sharks before playing five seasons with the Stars, making four All-Star appearances for them and winning the 1999 Stanley Cup.
EARTHQUAKES
Arturo Alvarez 2003-04 Earthquakes, ’05-08 FC Dallas, ’08-10 Earthquakes
Richard Mulrooney 1999-2004 Earthquakes, 2005-06 FC Dallas
Atiba Harris 2014 Earthquakes, 2015-17 FC Dallas
*Assisting with this research were former FC Dallas coach Marco Ferruzzi and former pro player Josh McKay, the latter of whom runs McKay’s Beer Garden in Pleasanton.
**While they didn’t go to Dallas, the Earthquakes franchise essentially relocated in 2006 to become the Houston Dynamo, only for an expansion franchise to return in 2008 with the Quakes name. In 2009, Chris Wondolowski came back to his native Bay Area and became MLS’s all-time leading scorer before retiring in 2021. Also, the Earthquakes recently fired coach Luchi Gonzalez, who formerly was FC Dallas’ coach.
