Klay Thompson plays for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association. The professional basketball player from the United States of America has an exciting career that has seen him hit a number of milestones right from his time playing college basketball. Read on to find out more about this intriguing player.
Thompson was born in Los Angeles on February 8, 1990. He, however, grew up in Oregon where he was in the Little League with some other future NBA picks and stars like Kevin Love. His high school was the Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita. Before he graduated in 2008 he was named in his junior season to the All-Area second team and to the Orange County third team. By the time he was a senior he led his high school to a 30-5 record and averaged 21 points per game. With his impressive play, he was named as the Division III State player of the year as well as the League MVP, first-team Best in the West and also got an EA Sports Second Team All American.
Klay Thompson went to Washington State University where he led his team in a 3-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage. He started in all 33 games as a freshman and averaged 12.5 points per game. In his sophomore season, he led the Cougars to the Great Alaska Shootout Championship. He was named the Most Outstanding Player and also managed to wrangle the third highest single-game point total in WSU history after he came away with a single-game record of 43 points. He was able to earn the Pac-10 Player of the Week honours twice during the season and finished up an awesome season which averaged 19.6 points.
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With his impressive college record, Klay Thompson was selected in the 2011 NBA’s first round of drafts by Golden State. He was the 11th pick. Larry Riley, the general manager for Warriors lauded Klay Thompson’s shooting ability and expressed confidence that his defensive skills would improve with the help of coach Mark Jackson. His bets could be said to have paid off because, despite Klay Thompson struggling with his shooting for some time during the playoffs, his improved defensive skills stood him out. He and Stephen Curry earned the nickname of “Splash Brothers” after they set an NBA record with 484 combined three-pointers in a season in 2014.
Klay Thompson was also part of the United States national team that in 2014 won the gold medal in FIBA Basketball World Cup and then in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Who Are Klay Thompson’s Parents?
Klay Thompson seems to be one of those players that have sports and basketball, particularly in their blood. His father is former NBA player Mychal Thompson. Mychal Thompson and his wife Jule Thompson (who was also a volleyball player at University of Portland and University of San Francisco) had their son on the 8th of February 1990 in Los Angeles. Their family moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon when Klay Thompson was just two. Mychal Thompson himself had an impressive career being the first overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft. He seems to have passed his flair for the game on to his son. The family moved again when Thompson was 14 years old likely due to his father’s career.
Mychal Thompson who played for the Los Angeles Lakers has since retired and now works in sports radio.
What To Know About His Brothers – Mychal and Trayce Thompson
Klay Thompson has an older brother named after his father. Coming from a sports family it is not surprising that Mychal Thompson played basketball for Pepperdine University. The Jr. Mychal has also played in the NBA Development League.
The youngest brother in the family is Trayce Thompson and he went a different way in the sports world. He plays with Oakland Athletics as a Major League Baseball player.
What Is Klay Thompson’s Height?
The basketball player stands at 2.01 metres and weighs 98kg. He uses his size at the guard position and is considered a strong defender able to defend against elite guards and wings alike. His stamina is also widely praised and he is known as an efficient shooter. In fact, his shooting form has been described as a textbook.
Does Klay Thompson Have A Wife or Girlfriend?
Thompson who is known for having a quiet and laid back personality is not married. He is regularly the subject of dating rumours and has in fact been accused o cheating on his last acknowledged relationship partner, Hannah Stocking. The two had been together for about a year before the rumours surfaced and their relationship soon ended. He has denied dating a lot of other women that he has been paired with since then but has been spotted on quite a number of dates.
Other Facts
- Klay Thompson was suspended from his final regular-season game at Washington State University because of a misdemeanour criminal citation for possession of marijuana.
- Together with his father, Thompson became one of four father-son duos to win an NBA title after he won the NBA championship in 2015.
- He plays chess pretty well and has met with the chess world champion, Magnus Carlsen.
