4-time NBA champion Klay Thompson, after 13 years, was ready to call it quits from the Golden State Warriors. This allowed the Lakers an opportunity to secure the player, with LeBron James even willing to take a cut on his annual pay. Unfortunately, Thompson had other plans in mind and decided to take his talents to the Luka Doncic-led Mavericks. With questions arising on whether the sign-and-trade was motivated by higher pay or basketball vision, Mychal Thompson comes out to provide some clarification on the same.

A few hours ago, the former Laker and present radio broadcaster joined ESPN LA. The conversation kicked off with a co-host jokingly belittling him for “bad parenting” after allowing his son to choose the Mavs over the Lakers. Mychal clarified his belief that both franchises are playoff contenders, with Dallas gaining that status after successfully reaching the Finals last season. Furthermore, he did not deny that Klay and the Warriors broke up because of financial constraints and they didn’t want to go beyond the 2nd apron.

However, here’s the actual reason Klay snubbed LeBron James and Co. “Yeah, ‘take home’ money because of State Tax, but that’s not why he chose it. He looked at the opportunity to play with Kyrie and Luka and get back to the Finals.”

Klay Thompson signed with the Mavericks under a 3-year, $50 million contract. Thompson Sr. highlighted that even if his son was earning $15 million more in LA than in Dallas, the amount would’ve been somewhat equal because of higher state taxes in Hollywood City. In the end, the decision came to whom Klay could form a better partnership with.

According to ESPN reporters Ramona Shelburne and Kendra Andrews, sources revealed that the 9x NBA All-Star “loved the way” the Western Conference contender played and he believed himself to be an “ideal fit” in their roster. After all, what better way to show your enthusiasm about joining a team than to arrive at a dinner meeting with the Mavericks’ front office after having studied the tape and prepared talking points on how he could best help the franchise?

A partnership with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving may allow Thompson to possess the same on-court prowess that he shared with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. However, many people, including his own father, were not initially on board with the fact that the player did not choose to follow the same path as his dad through the Lakers.

Klay Thompson’s father was “hoping and praying” his son would join the Lakers

When Sirius XM Radio asked Mychal about his initial thoughts, he chose to be blunt right from the start by stating, “I’m really disappointed. I was hoping, hoping, as you can assess, that he would be a Laker. And it was close. It came down to the Lakers and the Mavs, but the Mavs won out. But you know me, I was hoping and praying he’d finish his career with the Lakers.”

Mychal Thompson played for the Los Angeles Lakers from 1987 to 1991. The four years marked a high point in his career since it allowed him to serve as a backup to Kareem Abdul Jabbar and secure 2 Championships. Thompson Sr. also formed a close bond with the late Jerry West and would later pay tribute by reminiscing about the praise Jerry sent out to Klay and Steph.

This compelled him to provide his own perspective to his son upon learning that the Lakers wanted to acquire Klay. “We always talked about him playing for the Lakers,” Mychal continued.

“If he was not a Golden State Warrior, where else would he wanna play? And of course, being a fan of Kobe’s, he would’ve loved to have played for the Lakers. But he had a chance, and when the chance came, he chose the Mavericks instead.” To his credit, Mychal revealed that he would live with the decision, no matter how much he wanted Klay to go in the other direction.

Before leaving, be sure to check out some insights that Shaquille O’Neal’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, shared about the Lakers legend’s infamous feud with the late Kobe Bryant.