Klay was not happy with Collins pic.twitter.com/e5jrlnnpXz
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) February 14, 2019
On February 13 of last year, Zach Collins became a household name to Warriors fans everywhere. That’s what happens when you become the first player in history to set off the typically stoic Klay Thompson.
The verbal sparing match during the Warriors-Blazers game was triggered after Thompson was called for an offensive foul on Collins while driving to the basket. As both players walked to the other end of the court, Thompson appeared to say something while the Blazers center tried to hype up the crowd. That’s when Collins got in Thompson’s face and had some, uh, choice words for Klay. The two continued to trade barbs before being issued double-technical fouls.
“Fuck you hoe” – a blazer legend pic.twitter.com/LJpLg6Av3z
— Actually, not Parker (@parkcorral) February 14, 2019
We’re now over a year removed from the incident, but Collins recently told Blazers courtside reporter Brooke Olzendam that he is still receiving hate mail from Warriors fans, and admitted he may have crossed the line.
“I got a lot of hate mail from Warriors fans… I still get it to this this day. It went on probably the rest of the year,” Collins said.
“In that moment I probably said some things I shouldn’t have, but you know, I was in the moment, I was hyped. It was against the Warriors and everybody’s trying to beat them… We had been going on a run and I was just like, I didn’t care who it was — you were getting it that night if you came up to me.
“[Klay] said something to me and I turned around and I saw red. I just went crazy for a second… I got a lot of clout from that. I got a lot of followers,” Collins joked.
“They’re passionate.”
Especially when you mess with Klay.