NBA stars Klay Thompson and Kevin Love have faced off 29 times throughout their careers — 14 games in the regular season, and a whopping 15 NBA Finals duels — and there have certainly been some memorable moments.
Love dropped 40 points to go along with 14 rebounds and nine assists back when he was on the Timberwolves in 2014... and lost to Thompson's Warriors. Thompson had a 37-point explosion in Game 5 of the 2016 Finals... and lost to Love's Cavs. Both players have been on the winning side in a Finals series, and both have been on the losing side. There's a fairly long history there.
But one of their earliest memories of competing came not on the hardwood but on the baseball diamond. When Thompson visited his old stomping grounds at Riverdale Grade School, he stopped by the baseball field and recalled a funny incident between the two.
It didn't take long for Love to confirm the validity of the story, and the moment still appears to be pretty fresh in his mind.
"This is no lie," Love wrote on an Instagram story. "Fastball straight to the left shoulder..."
Listen to sports talk now on Audacy and shop the latest NBA team gear
He also added that it was "one of the worst bruises" of his life, though I'm not buying this one as much. After all, when you play in the NBA and are posting up or defending 7-foot behemoths on a daily basis, you're probably going to get hurt just a little bit more than when a middle schooler pegs you with a "fastball." This isn't to take anything away from Thompson's skills as a young ballplayer, though it seems like basketball was on his mind even when he was partaking in our national pastime.
The two weren't always facing each other in baseball, though, as it was revealed that they were little league teammates in Lake Oswego.
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram