The Golden State Warriors have ousted the Houston Rockets four times in the last decade, including their most recent ousting in 2025. That would give someone like Amen Thompson enough ammunition to hate them.

Thompson had a disdain for the Warriors, which started before he even started his NBA career. LeBron James’ history playing against Golden State played into why Thompson has had it out for the Warriors.

Did Warriors’ Battles With LeBron James Go Into Why Amen Thompson Hated Them?

During his appearance on “The Young Man & the Three” on September 4, Thompson admitted that James’ battles with the Warriors factored into why he began to hate Golden  State.

“I was a LeBron fan, I’m not gonna lie,” Thompson said. “I didn’t dislike the Warriors until — I actually liked the Warriors until they had to start playing LeBron. And then I’m like, ‘Okay, now I hate the Warriors.’”

The Warriors had a heated rivalry during James’ second tenure with the Cleveland Cavaliers from 2015 to 2018. The two teams went up against each other in the NBA Finals four consecutive times, with the Warriors winning three of the four matchups.

Much of that was due to Kevin Durant’s addition in 2016, which made the Warriors basically unbeatable during that time span. Before that addition, the two teams were neck and neck. There’s no telling what would have happened if Durant had gone elsewhere. Durant’s decision could have very well stopped the Warriors and Cavaliers rivalry in 2016.

Regardless, any fan of James would have hated the Warriors as they consistently got in the way of him winning more titles in the 2010s. Plus, they only did this because they may have assembled the very best basketball team this world has ever seen.

Plus, the Warriors may add to that hate for Thompson now, as they are still trying to win titles in the 2020s while they still have Stephen Curry with his prime winding down. The Warriors already got in the way of the Rockets’ playoff intentions this year and have every intention of loading up for next year’s playoffs.

The Rockets are young, but made the biggest splash of the offseason by, coincidentally enough, acquiring Durant from the Phoenix Suns. If Durant proves to be the missing piece the Rockets needed all this time, Thompson could avenge James losing all these years by getting the one player who basically stopped his favorite player from winning more championships all those years ago.