Being the son of two renowned athletes, Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors has a strong background in sports. His mother, Julie Thompson, is a collegiate volleyball and track standout; his father, Mychal Thompson, was an NBA player who won two championships.
In addition, Thompson grew up with two brothers who were in professional sports. The information below pertains to Klay Thompson’s parents and relatives.
Klay Thompson’s Father
Thompson’s father, a two-time NBA champion who currently works in broadcasting, is no stranger to an NBA court. According to the website of his organization, Mychal Thompson was born on January 30, 1955, in Nassau, Bahamas.
He started out performing locally in his native nation before getting a call to relocate to Miami and play there. According to his college resume, the 6’10” center played for the University of Minnesota from 1975 to 1978. In the 1978 NBA Draft, the Portland Trail Blazers selected him first overall.
He revealed to the Los Angeles Times that he had ambitions to become prime minister and return to the Bahamas when he was in his 20s, but he chose to concentrate on basketball instead.
Still, he persisted in visiting his nation to further basketball’s growth, and in recognition of his achievements, a roadway named “Mychal Thompson Boulevard” was named after him. This route leads to Nassau’s well-known Queen Elizabeth Sports Centre.
After spending eight seasons as a player with Portland, Mychal Thompson joined the Los Angeles Lakers (via the San Antonio Spurs for a half-season). The NBA champion with the Showtime Lakers in 1987 and 1988, the man recognized by ESPN as “Bahama Mama” and “The Bum,” ended his career in sports in 1991.
Mychal and Julie Thompson currently reside in Los Angeles, California, where the former NBA player works as a color analyst for the radio broadcasts of the Los Angeles Lakers. According to ESPN, he will refer to the Warriors star as “That Thompson youngster,” “That Thompson Boy,” or occasionally “Klay” when he’s announcing his son’s games.
Klay Thompson’s Mother
Thompson’s mother Julie Thompson is also responsible for his athletic ability, in addition to his father. From an early age, Thompson’s mother had a keen interest in a variety of sports.
She was born and raised in Ridgefield, Washington, where she participated in volleyball with the school team and attended Ridgefield High School, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. She enrolled at the University of Portland after graduating in 1982 because she wanted to attend a university that valued academics just as much as athletics.
Julie Thompson stayed on to play volleyball for the university for two years, and it was in the gym that she eventually ran upon Mychal Thompson, the man who would become her husband. After her first two years, she transferred to the University of San Francisco, “where she dominated as an outside hitter for the volleyball team,” her bio states on her charitable foundation’s website.
In 1987, she wed NBA player Mychal Thompson, and the couple had three boys together in less than three years. On June 1, 1988, their eldest child, Mychel Thompson, was born. As Mychal Thompson was playing for the Lakers against Detroit in the 1988 NBA Finals, he was born in between two home games.
His father, speaking to the Orange County Register, referred to him as the baby with “great timing.” Their second son, Klay Thompson, was born on February 8, 1990. Like with their eldest, Mychal Thompson associates his second son’s birthday with a sporting event.
“He was born … two days before Mike Tyson upset Buster Douglas and I jumped around the house while Julie held little Klay in her arms,” he shared with the Register. On March 15, 1991, Trayce Thompson, their third son, was born. After earning her degree in accounting, Julie Thompson joined her husband and sons to co-found the Thompson Family Foundation in 2017, where she currently serves as president.
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