Klay Thompson

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

The son of former NBA player Mychal Thompson and brother of NBA player Mychel Thompson and Major League Baseball player Trayce Thompson, Klay Thompson played college basketball for three seasons with the Washington State Cougars, where he was a two-time first-team all-conference selection in the Pac-10 (now Pac-12). Thompson was selected in the first round of the 2011 NBA draft by Golden State with the 11th overall pick. In 2014, he and teammate Stephen Curry set a then-NBA record with 484 combined three-pointers in a season (a record they broke the following season with 525 and again in the 2015–16 season with 678), earning the pair the nickname of "the Splash Brothers." In 2015, Thompson helped lead the Warriors to their first NBA championship since 1975. The following season, he helped the Warriors win a record 73 games. The team advanced to the NBA Finals that season, losing to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games. Thompson and the Warriors avenged their 2016 finals loss, winning two more titles in 2017 and 2018. He also helped the Warriors reach their fifth straight Finals in 2019, where he suffered a torn ACL late in the series. After missing over two and a half years of play due to injury, Thompson returned in the middle of the 2021–22 season, where he won his fourth title in 2022.

In Their Own Story

On January 23, 2015, the Oracle Arena erupted as Thompson scored a career-high 52 points against the Sacramento Kings. In the third quarter alone, he poured in an NBA-record 37 points, going a perfect 13-for-13 from the field and hitting nine three-pointers. He later broke his own single-game record for threes made in a game during that contest. Earlier in the season, on October 31, he had signed a four-year, $70 million contract extension. His playoff heroics were equally notable; on May 8, 2013, he recorded a career-high 34 points and 14 rebounds against the San Antonio Spurs, hitting 8-of-9 from deep. Despite losses in the 2016 Finals to Cleveland and his injury in 2019, Thompson helped lead the Warriors to titles in 2015, 2017, and 2018, avenging their 2016 defeat with back-to-back championships.

Reader's Guide

Thompson was born in Los Angeles to Julie and Mychal Thompson. His mother was a volleyball player in college for the University of Portland and University of San Francisco, while his father was the first overall pick of the 1978 NBA draft. When Thompson was two, he and his family moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon, where Thompson was childhood friends and Little League teammates with fellow future NBA star Kevin Love. Thompson and his brothers were raised there as devout Catholics and have Bahamian ancestry through their father. When Thompson was 14, his family moved to Ladera Ranch, California, where he graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Rancho Santa Margarita in 2008. In his junior season, Thompson was named to the All-Area second team and to the Orange County third team. As a senior, Thompson averaged 21 points per game and led SMCHS to a 30–5 record and a Division III State Championship appearance. During the state championship, Thompson set a state finals record with seven three-pointers in a game. He was named Division III State player of the year, League MVP, first-team Best in the West, and an EA Sports Second Team All American. Thompson started all 33 games as a freshman for Tony Bennett at Washington State University, leading his team in three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, and averaging 12.5 points per game. Thompson was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team and Collegehoops.net All-Freshman Honorable Mention Team. Thompson began his sophomore season by leading the Cougars to the Great Alaska Shootout Championship, being named its Most Outstanding Player after scoring a tournament single game record of 43 points in its championship. This was also the third highest single game point total in WSU history. After becoming the third fastest Cougar to reach 1,000 points, Thompson was named to the All-Pac-10 First Team. He earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors twice during the season and was chosen as a midseason candidate for the John R. Wooden Award. Thompson finished the season averaging 19.6 points, good for second in the conference. Thompson led the Pac-10 in scoring as a junior, again earning All-Pac-10 first team honors. He became just the third Cougar to win first-team all-district honors from the National Association of Basketball Coaches twice in his career. Thompson also became the first Cougar to be nam

Did You Know?

• Thompson scored an NBA-record 37 points in a single quarter on January 23, 2015.
• He set a state finals record with seven three-pointers in a game during high school.
• Thompson is the third all-time leading scorer at Washington State University.
• He and Stephen Curry set an NBA record with 484 combined three-pointers in the 2013–14 season.