Clay Thompson found love … with his boat

Outdoors, he can forget about frustration and dissatisfaction. He can find solace in the cool breeze. He is about to return to the Golden State Warriors court, but Thompson has found a new hobby that is particularly therapeutic for him.

“You can’t have a bad day when you’re on the boat,” he said

That’s why he fishes and explores uninhabited bays – with the help of his Axopar 37 to avoid traffic in the Gulf region.

“It was so good for my mental health,” said Thompson, the star shooter who tore an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during the N.B.A. 2019, after which he tore his right Achilles tendon before the start of the previous season. “Before the days got really tough, I would take a cruise in the city or to Auckland or just go out in nature. It always helps. ”

Thompson came up with several names for the boat. One is the Nordic Knife. (As he recently explained to NBC Sports Bay Area, “It’s made in Finland, so it’s Norwegian, I think.”) The other is the Splash Express, every time friends are on the boat.

“I fell in love with all the little things,” Thompson said in an interview, “whether it’s navigation, cleaning, tidying – all things you would never think of when driving a car.”

Thompson is aware that he often talks about his boat as if he were a living, breathing man.

He has gone so far as to adhere to certain maritime superstitions. Among them: a firm and quick ban on bananas, as they are believed to attract bad energy to the boat. That’s hard for Thompson. “Because I love bananas,” he said

Coach Steve Kerr encourages his players to have outside interests in balance. Stephen Curry relaxes with golf. Draymond Green is a radio broadcaster. Thompson pilots a high-end twin-engine vessel with a compressor and a closed cabin. “Being in the water is a safe place for him,” Curry said. “He is out and has the freedom to go where he wants.”

Growing up in Southern California, Thompson did not grow up in a “family of boatmen,” he said. Nevertheless, he has always enjoyed the ocean. He finds the water calm and soothing, and the goal of getting his own boat was prompted by Anthony Nucio, his best friend from preschool. For a long time, Thompson rode a dinghy with his bulldog Rocco. (Thompson took care of the whole rowing.)

It wasn’t until Thompson was injured that he was motivated enough to invest in a full-fledged vessel. A few months after tearing up his A.C.L., Thompson was in rehab with Rex Butler, a sports performance specialist and hobby boatman. When Butler learned that Thompson wanted to buy something, Butler showed him pictures of Axopar. Thompson was defeated.

“I liked her lines so much,” he said

At the time, Thompson was dealing with the grief of not being able to play basketball. The days were long and his rehabilitation difficult. He knew he needed something to distract his mind. He needed a boat. He consulted with Nucio, who found a San Diego dealer named – believe it or not – Kenyon Martin, a Seattle Yachts brand manager who happened to bear the same name as the former N.B.A. attacker.

“I thought you were going to be taller,” Thompson told Martin when he met him in his showroom.

Thompson and Nucio inspected the inventory and then rehearsed Axopar. Retail Price: North starts at $ 300,000, although it was available at a discount because it was lightly used. Thompson signed a $ 190 million contract extension in 2019, but still appreciates the deal.

“Wow, that’s it,” Thompson said as he took the wheel from Martin.

Martin customizes the boat with underwater lights and an infrared camera so that Thompson can steer it at night. Martin also links him to a boat captain who trained him.

It’s not like a car in which you just turn someone’s keys and say, “Yes, you’re ready to go,” Martin said.

Thompson said it took several months before he felt confident enough to steer the boat alone. Meanwhile, he asked Nucio for guidance. Thompson also learned to kill a fish with a spear.

“I love moving my body and going through such a difficult rehabilitation,” he said. “So being able to do a hobby that I found refreshing and see the world differently was a dream come true.”

Eventually, Thompson sent the boat to the Bay Area, where it became apparent that he still understood the nuances of boat ownership. Whenever he traveled to the Chase Center, the coastal arena where he trained at Golden State and played his home games, he left his boat in other people’s places at a nearby shipyard. Mike Brown, Golden State’s assistant coach, has heard Thompson make noise.

“He just moored his boat wherever he wanted,” Brown said. And I said to myself, “Clay, you can’t park your boat there!”

Arvin Patel, the shipyard’s owner, enlightened Thompson on the protocols and was so fascinated by him that he invited him to dock the Splash Express next to his own 60-foot sailboat.

This was the beginning of an unlikely marriage between Thompson, a five-time All Star contestant, and Patel, a 70-year-old grandfather who runs a Silicon Valley start-up – and doesn’t like to reveal his exact age. (“I’m old,” he said.) Patel was interested in teaching Thompson more about boating, and they recently went on a day trip together in search of Atlantic flounder.

“We caught two nice fish and had a great time,” Patel said. “It’s actually something like a pure friendship, because I don’t like basketball. I deal with that when the local team wins. I’m a fan of sunny days. So now, if I need tickets, I say, “Hey, Mr. Clay!”