Mychal Thompson admitted he had hoped to see his son Klay Thompson join the Los Angeles Lakers before the veteran sharpshooter ultimately signed with the Miami Heat.

Klay agreed to a two-year, $11.5 million contract with Miami earlier this week.

His father, a former Lakers player and longtime radio analyst for the franchise, revealed that his attempts to steer Klay toward Los Angeles never carried much weight.

“What kind of influence do I have on [Klay’s] opinion? Isn’t it obvious? None! I wanted him to be [on the] Lakers. I thought the Lakers would be perfect for him the last three years,” Mychal said.

Mychal believes Klay could have succeeded with either team, pointing to how his shooting would have complemented the Lakers’ current core.

“Very similar fit; it have been perfect on either [team]. He fit perfectly here with Luka [Dončić], and Austin Reaves, and Walker Kessler, and the outside shooting the Lakers need, the outside shooting that Luka Dončić loves to have around him. But it’s the exact same of perfect fit in Miami too.”

It was not the first time Mychal wanted his son in a Lakers uniform. When Klay left Golden State in 2024, Los Angeles pursued him before he instead signed a three-year, $50 million contract with Dallas.

“I wanted him to be [on the] Lakers; I thought the Lakers would be perfect for him the last three years, especially when he became a free agent a few years ago, when the Lakers are pursuing him heavily,” Mychal said. “I thought he’d be perfect at the time to team up with LeBron and Anthony Davis to provide that outside shooting, along with Austin Reaves, that we needed.”

Asked why his pitches have repeatedly failed, Mychal offered a humorous explanation connected to his job traveling with the Lakers.

“The only thing I could figure out is, since I work for the Lakers, and I travel with the Lakers, I guess he just don’t want to be on the road with me, in [the] hotel,” Mychal said.

“He don’t want me knocking on his door to be checking on curfew, make sure he’s there. So I guess that’s why [he] figured, ‘I’m not going there to have my dad follow me on the road!’”