Klay Thompson had an opportunity to control his own future in the 2024 offseason. After spending the entirety of his NBA career with the Golden State Warriors, the former Splash Bro hit free agency and had a handful of suitors lining up for his services. The reports at the time indicated that the choice came down to the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers. Right now, that choice looks like the wrong one.
For fans of the television show How I Met Your Mother, there is a well-known bit, that pays homage to Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, from the later seasons of the series where a knight appears to tell Ted Mosby over and over that he has chosen poorly throughout an evening. If one were to grab that fictional knight and pop him into reality, he would be doing overtime with his appearances in front of Thompson.
Thompson's father reveals grim reality that faces his son
Mychal Thompson, father of Klay, enjoyed a solid career in the NBA himself. A highlight of his playing days would surely be the two championships won with the Lakers in the late 1980s. While no one is speaking on behalf of Mychal here, one would imagine it would have been a cool moment for him to see his son join his former team.
That feels especially true when considering what Klay is dealing with as a member of the Mavericks this season. Obviously, the younger of the Thompsons could not have possibly had a crystal ball to see all the turmoil that Dallas would go through during the 2024-25 NBA season. However, his decision to join the Mavericks has put him in a situation worse than that of his previous season with the Warriors.
The set of circumstances that Klay finds himself in was described in a very bleak way by his father on ESPN Los Angeles.
Mychal Thompson (@champagnennuts) spoke on his son Klay’s experience in Dallas since the Luka trade. pic.twitter.com/qxdt7vM8KR
— ESPN Los Angeles (@ESPNLosAngeles) March 6, 2025
"He thought with Luka [Doncic] and Kyrie [Irving] he had a chance to get back to the Finals," Mychal told a caller of the show. The former Laker proceeded to talk about the brief optimism provided by the arrival of Anthony Davis after the Doncic trade. However, the conversation then shifted to ultimately discussing the laundry list of injuries that added to derailing this campaign for the Mavericks.
"Klay is stuck in purgatory right now, and if they hang on to the 10th seed, that will be the story of the year in the NBA, because I think they're going to lose 10 in a row," Mychal concluded.
The irony of the situation is obviously the fact that Doncic, who would have been the catalyst for any return to the NBA Finals for Dallas, ended up with Thompson's rumored second choice in free agency. Hindsight is always 20/20, but this key career decision probably stings right now for Klay.