Before becoming part of the Dallas Mavericks, there were rumors that Klay Thompson was among the players the Los Angeles Lakers were trying to pursue. However, the success of the Mavericks last season led Thompson to choose the Dallas franchise over his hometown Lakers squad. The former Luka Doncic-led organization represented the team in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics.
However, the Mavericks came up short and many believed they were one player away from being true contenders. This led their stars, Doncic and Kyrie Irving, to recruit Thompson, who had just finished his final season as a member of the Golden State Warriors.
Former Los Angeles Lakers player and father of the four-time champion, Mychal Thompson, appeared as a guest on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back.” During his guest appearance, he spoke about his son having the perfect opportunity and fit to join the Los Angeles organization.
“We’re talking about how the perfect situation was to finish his career for the team that he admired and rooted for growing up,” Thompson said. “Because he was a Kobe [Bryant] guy like everybody his age at that time. He and Kobe used to work out together. He loved the Lakers. We used to talk about it. If he couldn’t be a Warrior, wouldn’t it be great to finish his career with the Lakers.
“Everything was perfect for him to finish his career here. His family’s here, his nephew and niece are here. He can see them grow up for the next few years together, they could come to his games. I thought it was the perfect situation for him to finish his career here and it sounded like he was leaning that way.
“Everything was perfect for him to finish his career here.” 😭 – @champagnennuts
Mychal Thompson says Klay was 🤌🏾 close to being a Laker this offseason, and then he got on the phone with Kyrie & Luka…
Would Klay have been a good fit on the Lakers?@MichelleDBeadle |… pic.twitter.com/yJhCqGSj90
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 8, 2025
However, a quick conversation with Irving and Doncic steered him to Dallas.
“He was gonna talk to Luka and Kyrie. He’s a good friend of Kyrie’s. And they convinced him to come to Dallas over here. But I always thought this would be a perfect fit for him even though, I’m sure things would work out in Dallas. I just thought this would be a perfect place for him to finish his career.”
The Los Angeles Lakers offered more money to Klay Thompson
Over the summer, Thompson received a bigger offer from the Los Angeles Lakers, according to The Hoop Collective. ESPN’s Tim MacMahon didn’t get into the specifics of how much and the length of the contract. However, he pointed out that the Lakers were offering more money per year and for a longer term.”
Unfortunately, Thompson turned it down and accepted a three-year, $50 million deal from the Mavericks. With the Dallas team, the five-time All-Star is averaging 14.2 points and 3.5 rebounds on 39.4% from beyond the arc.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
