 Thompson in 2012 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1955-01-30)January 30, 1955 (age 71) Eleuthera, The Bahamas |
| Nationality | Bahamian / American |
| Listed height | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) |
| Listed weight | 226 lb (103 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Jackson (Miami, Florida) |
| College | Minnesota (1974–1978) |
| NBA draft | 1978: 1st round,1st overall pick |
| Drafted by | Portland Trail Blazers |
| Playing career | 1978–1992 |
| Position | Center |
| Number | 43, 00 |
| Career history | |
| 1978–1986 | Portland Trail Blazers |
| 1986–1987 | San Antonio Spurs |
| 1987–1991 | Los Angeles Lakers |
| 1991–1992 | Juvecaserta Basket |
| Career highlights | |
| |
| Career NBA statistics | |
| Points | 12,810 (13.7 ppg) |
| Rebounds | 6,951 (7.4 rpg) |
| Blocks | 1,073 (1.1 bpg) |
Stats at NBA.com  | |
| Stats atBasketball Reference | |
Mychal George Thompson (born January 30, 1955) is a Bahamian sports commentator and former professionalbasketball player. He was the first player born & raised in the Bahamas to make the NBA[1]. The top overall pick in the1978 NBA draft, Thompson played thecenter position for theUniversity of Minnesota and center andpower forward for theNational Basketball Association'sPortland Trail Blazers,San Antonio Spurs, andLos Angeles Lakers. Thompson won twoNBA championships with the Lakers during theirShowtime era in the 1980s. He is the father of basketball playersKlay Thompson andMychel Thompson and baseball playerTrayce Thompson.
Thompson was born to a Catholic family inNassau, Bahamas,[2] where he grew up playing pickup basketball on the local courts and fostered his love for the game.[3]In his teens, he moved to the United States in order to compete at a higher level. Settling inMiami, Florida, Thompson attendedMiami Jackson Senior High School and played for its athletic team the Generals. In Thompson's senior year in 1974, he was part of a basketball starting lineup nicknamed the "Jackson 5" featuring himself, three other Bahamians and a Cuban; the Generals mowed through the regular season that year, beating opponents by an average of 30 points per game en route to a 33–0 record and winning the Class 4A state championship overWinter Park High School. Miami Jackson's team won the title with four key ineligible players due to falsified birth records, including Thompson.[4] Thompson then attended theUniversity of Minnesota where he had a standout collegiate career.
ThePortland Trail Blazers selected Thompson with the first overall pick in the1978 NBA draft, making him the first foreign-born player to be selected first.[5]
Thompson was in the Portland lineup for eight years, where he started at both power forward and center positions. He was named to the 1978 All-Rookie team, and had arguably his statistically best season in1981–82, where he averaged 20.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per game. In the 1987 off-season, Thompson was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for center/forwardSteve Johnson.
Thompson played only half a season with the Spurs, before he was traded again, February 1987, this time to Los Angeles for center/forwardFrank Brickowski, centerPétur Guðmundsson plus a 1987 first-round draft pick and their 1990 second-round draft choice, along with an undisclosed amount of cash. Thompson was acquired as a back-up center and power forward. This gave thePat Riley-coached Lakers a team that had four players who were overall #1 selections in the NBA draft, includingKareem Abdul-Jabbar (1969),Magic Johnson (1979), andJames Worthy (1982). The trade proved valuable to the1986–87 Lakers, who went on to defeat Boston for the 1987 NBA title. Thompson thrived as Abdul-Jabbar's backup. In Game six of the1987 NBA Finals, he had 15 points and nine rebounds and played 37 minutes, as the Lakers won the series.[6]
Thompson appeared in 193 of a total of 197 regular season Laker games from the time of his acquisition through the 1988–1989 season, nine of them as a starter. He proved to be a reliable backup during1987–88 and1988–89 seasons for the aging Abdul-Jabbar (and laterVlade Divac) and power forward forA.C. Green. The Lakers won another title in 1988, beating the Detroit Pistons, and reached the Finals in 1989, falling to Detroit, and again, in 1991. He retired later that year.
As of 2022, Mychal and his sonKlay are one of five father-son duos to have each won an NBA Championship as a player; the others were (in chronological order of completing the feat)Matt Guokas, Sr. and his sonMatt Guokas, Jr., Hall of FamerRick Barry and his sonBrent Barry, Hall of FamerBill Walton and his sonLuke Walton, and Hall of FamerGary Payton and his sonGary Payton II. The Thompsons, along with the Waltons, are also the only father-son tandems to have each won at least two championships, with the Thompsons being the only tandem to each win in two consecutive years.
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| † | Won anNBA championship |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978–79 | Portland | 73 | — | 29.4 | .490 | — | .572 | 8.3 | 2.4 | .9 | 1.8 | 14.7 |
| 1980–81 | Portland | 79 | — | 35.3 | .494 | .000 | .641 | 8.7 | 3.6 | .8 | 2.2 | 17.0 |
| 1981–82 | Portland | 79 | 78 | 39.6 | .523 | — | .628 | 11.7 | 4.0 | .9 | 1.4 | 20.8 |
| 1982–83 | Portland | 80 | 80 | 37.7 | .489 | .000 | .621 | 9.4 | 4.8 | .9 | 1.4 | 15.7 |
| 1983–84 | Portland | 79 | 74 | 33.5 | .524 | .000 | .667 | 8.7 | 3.9 | 1.1 | 1.4 | 15.7 |
| 1984–85 | Portland | 79 | 55 | 33.1 | .515 | — | .684 | 7.8 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 18.4 |
| 1985–86 | Portland | 82 | 78 | 31.3 | .498 | — | .641 | 7.4 | 2.1 | .9 | .4 | 14.7 |
| 1986–87 | San Antonio | 49 | 6 | 24.7 | .436 | 1.000 | .735 | 5.6 | 1.8 | .6 | .8 | 12.3 |
| 1986–87† | L.A. Lakers | 33 | 1 | 20.6 | .480 | .000 | .743 | 4.1 | .8 | .4 | .9 | 10.1 |
| 1987–88† | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 0 | 25.1 | .512 | .000 | .634 | 6.1 | .8 | .5 | 1.0 | 11.6 |
| 1988–89 | L.A. Lakers | 80 | 8 | 24.9 | .559 | .000 | .678 | 5.8 | .6 | .7 | .7 | 9.2 |
| 1989–90 | L.A. Lakers | 70 | 70 | 26.9 | .500 | — | .706 | 6.8 | .6 | .5 | 1.0 | 10.1 |
| 1990–91 | L.A. Lakers | 72 | 4 | 15.0 | .496 | .000 | .705 | 3.2 | .3 | .3 | .3 | 4.0 |
| Career | 935 | 454 | 29.7 | .504 | .083 | .655 | 7.4 | 2.3 | .7 | 1.1 | 13.7 | |
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Portland | 3 | — | 40.3 | .500 | — | .500 | 10.3 | 2.0 | .7 | 1.7 | 19.7 |
| 1981 | Portland | 3 | — | 44.0 | .608 | — | .722 | 7.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 25.0 |
| 1983 | Portland | 7 | — | 40.6 | .471 | — | .658 | 8.0 | 5.6 | .9 | 1.1 | 15.0 |
| 1984 | Portland | 4 | — | 30.3 | .500 | — | .773 | 7.3 | 3.8 | 1.3 | .8 | 15.3 |
| 1985 | Portland | 9 | 0 | 27.8 | .490 | — | .673 | 8.0 | 1.6 | .8 | 1.3 | 14.8 |
| 1986 | Portland | 4 | 4 | 35.0 | .574 | — | .538 | 8.3 | 3.5 | .3 | .8 | 19.0 |
| 1987† | L.A. Lakers | 18 | 0 | 22.3 | .453 | — | .680 | 4.9 | .5 | .4 | .9 | 8.8 |
| 1988† | L.A. Lakers | 24 | 0 | 25.6 | .513 | — | .581 | 7.1 | .5 | .7 | .9 | 9.7 |
| 1989 | L.A. Lakers | 15 | 0 | 25.1 | .508 | — | .683 | 5.1 | .7 | .4 | .8 | 11.4 |
| 1990 | L.A. Lakers | 9 | 8 | 25.0 | .477 | — | .615 | 4.3 | .2 | .2 | 1.4 | 6.4 |
| 1991 | L.A. Lakers | 8 | 0 | 5.3 | .286 | — | — | 1.1 | .0 | .0 | .4 | .5 |
| Career | 104 | 12 | 26.0 | .501 | — | .648 | 6.0 | 1.2 | .5 | 1.0 | 10.9 | |
Thompson and his family moved back to Portland in 1991 after his career. He worked on local sports radio in the area. He and his family relocated back to Los Angeles in 2003 when he was offered a job as acolor commentator for the Lakers. He was first a co-host on the "Loose Cannons" radio show on KLAC AM570 in Los Angeles but was let go, due to the move of Lakers broadcasts from AM570 to KSPN AM710 for the 2009–10 season. With the move to KSPN AM710, he joinedAndrew Siciliano as co-hosts on the "LA Sports Live" radio show on KSPN AM710 until the show was canceled on December 26, 2010. On June 4, 2015, it was announced that Thompson would be teaming up withMike Trudell as co-hosts on the show "Thompson & Trudell" on KSPN AM710 until the show was canceled on October 19, 2017.
Thompson is currently employed as the Lakers radio color commentator. He first worked withJoel Meyers, thenSpero Dedes, and is currently paired withJohn Ireland.
Thompson married his wife Julie in 1987,[7] and they have three sons,Mychel,Klay, andTrayce. Mychel briefly played in the NBA for theCleveland Cavaliers, while Klay is a shooting guard for theDallas Mavericks and has won four NBA championships, and Trayce is an outfielder for theBoston Red Sox.
Thompson is nicknamed "sweet bells" afterWalt Bellamy, who was nicknamed "bells."[8] Thompson's documentary about his life "Trailblazer: The Mychal Thompson Story" screened at Regal Cinemas at LA Live in Los Angeles on November 21, 2013.[9][10] Thompson's brother, Andrew (Andy) Thompson, was an executive producer of the Michael Jordan documentary mini-seriesThe Last Dance.[11] Andy Thompson pitchedAdam Silver the idea for the documentary while both were working forNBA Entertainment, knowing that Michael Jordan used to write his name as "Mychal Jordan" since he idolized Mychal Thompson.[12]
Thompson once implied he had interest in becoming Bahamian Prime Minister. Before he joined the NBA, some fans believed him to be the cousin of fellow NBA player (and basketball Hall of Fame member)David Thompson.[13] A street in Nassau leading to theQueen Elizabeth Sports Centre was named "Mychal Thompson Boulevard" in his honor during 2015.[14]
As of the2025–26 season, Thompson is one of seven players born inThe Bahamas to appear in an NBA game, and one of only five to bedrafted.[15] Thompson was the first and only Bahamian NBA player untilIan Lockhart debuted in 1990 and appeared in only one career game.[15][16]
