Klay Thompson’s long and successful run with the Golden State Warriors came to an end on Monday when the team agreed to sign-and-trade him to the Dallas Mavericks as part of a three-team deal. His dad, former No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Mychal Thompson and current Lakers broadcaster, was not too pleased with that destination.
During a radio appearance with Frank Isola and Brian Scalabrine on Tuesday, Mychal expressed his disappointment that Klay didn’t wind up with the Los Angeles Lakers. Mychal won two titles with the Lakers and is currently the color commentator for the Lakers’ radio broadcast.
Here’s Mychal’s full comments:
“Hold your congratulations, Frank and Scal. I’m not feeling too much in a congratulatory mood right now. Obviously, it’s Klay’s decision, it’s his life, he’s a grown man at 34 years of age. We were 34 at one time and our fathers would give us advice and we would choose our own path. And that’s fine, that’s what life is supposed to be about, but I’m really disappointed. I was hoping, hoping, as you can assess, that he would be a Laker. It was close, it came down to the Lakers and the Mavs, but the Mavs won out. But you know me, I was hoping and praying he would finish his career with the Lakers.
“When he told me that the Lakers were talking to him, or gonna talk to him, and the Mavs too, obviously I tried to sell playing for the Lakers. That’s the right thing for me to do and the proper thing for me to do and I felt like it was the correct thing for me to do because I really believe in this franchise, the franchise has been so good to me and my family, including Klay.
“He grew up a Laker fan, he grew up idolzing Kobe Bryant like most kids his age so I just thought it seemed to be the perfect fit for him to come back home. We had always talked about him playing for the Lakers if he was not a Golden State Warrior. Of course, being a fan of Kobe, he would have loved to have played for the Lakers. But he had a chance, and when the chance came he chose the Mavericks instead. I’ll live with it, I accept it and I’m happy for him that he’s happy with his decision, but of course I tried to sell him on the Lakers.”
Klay’s relationship with the Warriors soured over the last year, and it became clear in the recent weeks and days that he would not return to the Bay Area. Throught this process, the Lakers had always been rumored to be a potential destination for Klay given his L.A. roots and his dad’s history with the franchise.
Per Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers were indeed “extremely intriguing” to Klay, but he ultimately chose the Mavericks due to potential tax savings in Texas and the fact that they are coming off a trip to the Finals.
