Klay Thompson’s path has taken another sharp turn, and the reason he didn’t end up with the Lakers is now a lot clearer.
After a disappointing two-year stint with the Dallas Mavericks, Thompson has signed with the Miami Heat, closing the book on a run that never delivered the title chance Dallas seemed to promise. And with that chapter over, the focus shifts back to a decision he passed on in 2024: the Lakers’ open invitation.
Mychal Thompson laid out his son’s thinking on the Locked On Heat podcast, and he didn’t exactly hide his feelings about it. Once Klay was headed toward a buyout, Mychal pushed hard for a Lakers reunion around Luka Doncic, but Klay wasn’t interested. As Mychal put it, "Playing with Giannis and Bam and playing for Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra was just too much of an attraction for him to turn down."
That was the second time Klay brushed aside his father’s pitch to wear purple and gold. Back in the summer of 2024, LeBron James personally recruited the five-time All-Star, and was reportedly willing to take a pay cut to make the deal work under the Lakers’ mid-level exception.
Mychal was all in on that idea too, urging Klay to join LeBron, Anthony Davis, and Austin Reaves. Klay still chose Dallas.
Mychal didn’t sugarcoat how little sway he had. "What kind of influence do I have on his opinion?
Isn't it obvious? None," Mychal said.
"I wanted him to be a Laker. I thought the Lakers would be perfect for him to team up with LeBron and Anthony Davis to provide that outside shooting along with Austin Reaves that we needed.
I was talking about how perfect this situation was, and he kind of agreed with me to a certain extent. But the lure of playing with Luka and Kyrie in Dallas won out over my advice to come here."
At the time, the Mavericks looked like the better basketball bet. They were coming off an NBA Finals run with Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving, while the Lakers had just gone out in the first round of the 2024 playoffs, losing 4-1 to the Denver Nuggets. Thompson landed in Dallas on a three-year, $50 million deal.
Then everything changed. The Mavericks traded Dončić to the Lakers in February 2025, Irving later tore his ACL and was sidelined for a year and a half, and Thompson’s Dallas run never got back on track. He missed the playoffs for two straight seasons, averaged just 11.7 points while shooting 38.3% from three in a reduced bench role, and eventually agreed to a buyout this offseason.
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