Klay Thompson, a top player for the Golden State Warriors, credits his parents, Mychal and Julie, with helping him develop his athleticism.
On February 8, 1990, the son of athletes Mychal and Julie Thompson, Klay Thompson was born. Mychal played in the NBA for the Portland Trailblazers, the San Antonio Spurs, and the Los Angeles Lakers, and Julie competed in volleyball and track and field at the collegiate level.
Klay’s older brother Mychel played for the NBA’s G League for six seasons, and the couple’s younger son Trayce is an outfielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
While Klay and his brothers have acknowledged that their parents were influential in their decision to pursue sports careers, they insist that they were never pressured to do so. A commentator for the Los Angeles Lakers, he says that his father has always been his “biggest believer.”
He told the New York Times in 2014, “He has always told me since I was about 17 that I could make the N.B.A. if I just stayed humble and worked hard.” If I’m messing up, he won’t treat me like a cupcake. He is one of the most forthright individuals you will ever encounter.
Over the years, Klay has also shown similar feelings for his mother. In October of 2022, he was presented with his fourth NBA championship ring, and he took the opportunity to thank Julie.
After saying, “The vision came to fruition, and now I just want to send a special shout-out to my mother,” he realized that his mother was the recipient of the shout-out. If she were here tonight, she wouldn’t be watching. I appreciate you very much, Mom. Please accept my undying affection.
Learn about Klay Thompson’s mom and dad, Julie and Mychal Thompson, right here!
The NBA has another champion in Mychal.
From 1978 until 1991, Mychal was an NBA star for a variety of squads. Most notably, he played for four seasons with Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with the Los Angeles Lakers, where he helped the team win championships in 1987 and ’88.
Klay posted an Instagram photo of himself and his dad with the Larry O’Brien NBA Championship Trophy in 2017. He captioned the shot with four ring emojis, alluding to the four championship rings they had between them at the time.
Mychal said this about Klay’s first NBA Championship performance in a Father’s Day video for the NBA in 2015: “Watching him is incredibly nerve-wracking. I’d rather be on the ground than up here where I can only watch helplessly… Seeing your son achieve his goal is an experience like no other. My heart swells with pride for him.
Radio announcer and analyst Mychal
Mychal joined the Lakers organization once more before the 2003-2004 season, this time as a radio announcer after retiring from the NBA. ESPN reports that at the age of 14, Klay was allowed to practice his shooting on the Lakers’ court before each home game.
Mychal is in his 20th year as the Lakers’ radio analyst, and in the 2023 NBA playoffs, his club will be competing against his son’s squad. The Golden State Warriors player joked to the press about who he believed his father would be pulling for: “If I had to guess, probably his employer.”
More specifically, he said, “I have so many great memories of him watching the Lakers, Kobe, Shaq, and Pau [Gasol].” I can’t wait to take it out on the team I supported as a kid.
Mychal’s place of birth was the Bahamas.
According to the National Archives of the Bahamas, Mychal was born in Nassau. He started playing basketball at the age of 16.
He told NBC Sports in March 2021 that taking his children there is one of the reasons Klay is so fond of the sea. Mychael remarked, “Ever since he was a kid, he’s always been fascinated and attracted to the water, whether it be swimming, jumping in pools, jumping in lakes up in Oregon, or jumping in the river.” I attribute it to his Bahamian heritage.
Mychal speculated that after his NBA career, Klay will further explore his passion for the ocean. “Yeah. My guess is no. In an interview with the site from July of 2021, Mychal said, “I would be shocked if he sticks around the NBA scene.” He is passionate about sailing and the sea. It wouldn’t surprise me if he decided to hop on a boat and go on a globe cruise.
He continued, “I want to retire to the Bahamas as an old sea captain and lead tour groups around and show them around and all that. That sounds like something he would do.
Mychal would often bring Klay to the Staples Center with him for work.
Mychal used to bring Klay with him whenever he announced Lakers home games so that Klay could shoot some hoops and get some pointers from NBA great Kobe Bryant.
“It would make my job easy when it came to basketball,” Mychal told 95.7 The Game’s “Willard & Dibs” in July 2022. “Because I could take him to Staples Center and sаy, ‘There’s Kobe, go talk to him.’ Kobe would often stop what he was doing to meet with Klay and other up-and-coming basketball stars like Klay.
He went on, saying, “And he would tell them about the right way to approach the game, the right way to play [and] to have passion for the game… when you have a legend, an icon like Kobe giving that type of advice, I could just sit back and relax a little bit, because he’s gonna listen to that guy probably more than he’s gonna listen to me.”
Mychal is happy that Klay is serving as a role model for other NBA players.
In a radio interview with 95.7 The Game’s “Morning Roast” (via NBC Sports), Mychal shared he was proud of his son for mentoring young NBA players like Jordan Poole and Moses Moody.
“That makes me feel good to see that he wants to be a mentor to the younger player,” he said. “And to see him give it back to a young guy like Moses Moody and James Wiseman – it makes me feel good, makes me proud to see that he’s sharing his advice and his wisdom for the younger guys.”
And trying to encourage those guys to reach their full potential,” the elated father continued. Very macho of you. Klay’s being a real man about that. That’s fantastic to hear.
Julie was a collegiate athlete
Mychal wasn’t the only athlete of the couple. Julie was a star volleyball player and track and field athlete in high school, and she played Division 1 volleyball at the University of Portland before transferring to the University of San Francisco, per the Los Angeles Times.
“She’s the best athlete in the family, and all the boys will tell you that,” Mychal told the outlet of his wife.
Klay echoed the sentiment, joking to the Spokesman-Review in 2011, just after he signed with the Warriors: “Our dad used to just loaf down the court. We got our height thanks to him. But our athleticism came from mom.”
Julie helped Klay recover from his Achilles ιnjury
Julie has also been by her son’s side when he needed her the most. When Klay injured his right Achilles tendon (which took him out of the 2019-2020 season) ESPN reported that Julie “came over daily, helping him get around to do tasks.”
Klay told the outlet: “I’m in a big cast and gosh, ‘thing’s luggy’. It’s hard to get up and brush your teeth or make breakfast … just the most simple things. You can’t drive a car, so you just feel immobilized.”
Klay credits Julie for her guidance
In a sweet 2015 Instagram post on Mother’s Day, Klay expressed his gratitude for his mom’s guidance.
“Happy Mother’s Day mom. I wouldn’t be the man or professional I am without your guidance along the way!” he wrote alongside a throwback picture of her holding Klay in her lap as a young boy.
Julie also helps him when it comes to his fashion choices. When asked by ESPN in 2019 about who had the best style on his team, Klay revealed that his mom picks out some of his clothes.
“Andre [Iguodala], for sure. My mom and his wife go shopping together for us. … They have good senses of style,” he said.
Julie and Mychal launched a foundation with their kids
Along with their three sons, Julie and Mychal founded the Thompson Family Foundation in 2017. The organization aims to “enrich the lives of youth in the United States and the Bahamas through fitness and education.”
In February 2022, the foundation launched the 941 Project, which assists and supports “re-entry to the workplace for individuals from disadvantaged situations.” The program was inspired by Klay’s return to basketball following a two-and-a-half-year rehabilitation period from two career-threatening injuries.
