Warriors’ Klay Thompson gets his own San Francisco convention

Warriors guard Klay Thompson might be the most interesting man in the NBA.

And, as a fan base, we can’t get enough of Klay. We’ve totally embraced his laid-back, happy-go-lucky lifestyle, like headband Klay. We love his quirks as much as his play, which is rare to say about a professional athlete. In many ways, he’s just like us.

On Friday, Oct. 13, we can celebrate the cult of Klay in the Bay Area. Matt Cohen, CEO of Off the Grid, a San Francisco-based outdoor food truck space, is honoring his favorite athlete with the first Klaycon, from 5 to 10 p.m., at Fort Mason.

“This [idea] has been something that’s been bouncing around for like a decade between me and my friend,” Cohen said of his friend Curtis Kimball, who happens to be the creme brulee cart man and the free-pancake guy of San Francisco. “He and I have just been joking about wanting to do something that honored the quirkiness and the awesomeness of Klay.”

The entire night is themed around Klay, so patrons can expect Klay-inspired activities as much as great food. There is slated to be a paper plane building station for those wanting to emulate Klay’s postgame press conferences, as well as a bulldog soiree to honor Klay’s dog Rocco, who is just as much a Bay Area icon as Klay. Off the Grid plans to provide captain’s hats, just like Klay donned in the 2022 championship parade, to celebrate his love of boating. Even a Klay Thompson look-alike contest is scheduled for toward the end of the night. If that’s not enough, the event is slated to feature a raffle giving away two lower-bowl Warriors tickets to an upcoming home game.

Klay is not expected to be in attendance, as he should be in Los Angeles, where the Warriors face off against the Lakers in their second preseason game. But that’s OK. We can bond over his quirks.

“At some point between him getting Rocco and the scaffolding is kind of where this idea came from,” Cohen said. “And then he just kept adding on to it in like the most Klay Thompson quirky, endearing, Bay Area-oriented way. We just wanted to honor his spirit because he’s so great.”