One of the biggest storylines of the young NBA offseason so far has been guard Klay Thompson deciding to leave guard Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors to sign with the Dallas Mavericks.

Teammates for 13 seasons in the Bay Area, Thompson and Curry teamed up to win four championships and combined to splash over 6,100 three-pointers in a Warriors uniform. The two Golden State legends shared an emotional 15-minute phone call earlier this summer when Thompson let Curry know he was moving on to greener pastures.

“Yeah, it was a rough call,” Curry told The Athletic on Sunday. “When you hear him open up on the whys (of his decision), and just how much he appreciated the friendship and being teammates and champions that we were, there’s no words that do that justice. I know it was hard for him. You just try to keep it as cool as possible on the phone, because you don’t want to be sobbing and going through that. There was a little bit (of tears). But it’s one of those things where I know when I see him in person, I’ll be able to give him that energy properly.”

While Thompson takes the summer to adjust to his new surroundings, Curry will be busy chasing a gold medal with Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Curry was sure to point out that although he’ll miss his backcourt-mate of the last decade-plus, he understands the reasoning behind Thompson’s decision.

“(The phone call) was more so just me making sure that he knew (how I felt). I didn’t want him carrying any weight of (him thinking I believed) he was making a bad decision or a wrong decision, or whatever the case was, because it was his decision,” Curry told The Athletic. “It’s a matter of him feeling like he’s doing what’s in the best interest of him and getting a fresh start that he needed.

“I just pray it works out, and that he, again, just has fun playing basketball, because he’d had a rough two years.”