Klay Thompson Is “Desperate” to Win 5th Ring Just Like Steph Curry & LeBron James, Says Father

Mychal Thompson could not get his son to come home. He tried. The LA Lakers, his former team, were right there. Klay Thompson still chose Miami.

Now the father has explained why.

“He loved basketball. He still has deep love and affection for the game. That’s number 1. Number 2, 4 rings. He’s desperate to get that 5th ring. So is Steph, so is LeBron,” Mychal said on 104.3 WQAM.

That is not a dad talking about a nice two-year deal in South Beach. That is a dad saying Klay Thompson is still in the hunt with the biggest names left from his era.

Miami had the stronger roster argument. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo, backed by Pat Riley and Erik Spoelstra, made for a compelling pitch. Mychal admitted that package beat out a Lakers homecoming.

The financials were worked out from there. Thompson was owed $17.5 million for 2026-27. Through the buyout, he gave up roughly $9.8 million of that salary, while Dallas retained approximately $7.7 million in dead money. That split pushed the Mavericks further under the luxury-tax line and clear of the first apron.

Thompson was waived on Friday and had to clear waivers on Sunday before he could sign elsewhere.

Once he cleared, Miami completed a two-year deal that starts near $5.6 million. There's a player option around $5.88 million for 2027-28, well below the veteran number he left on the table in Dallas.

Four championships - all of them in Golden State. Dallas never gave him a playoff run that mattered. Year 16 is supposed to be the wind-down. Mychal described the opposite.

Curry is still in a Warriors jersey, still talking about finishing his career in the Bay. James took a veteran-minimum deal to Philadelphia. Thompson landed in Miami. Three different cities, three different directions.

One number connects all of them: five.

Draymond Green already told the media not to sell 2017 Klay in a Heat uniform. That's fair. The legs aren't what they were. But according to his father, the motive hasn't moved an inch.

“Highly likely that after the 2019 playoffs, Klay Thompson was going to leave the Golden State Warriors and go be a number one option somewhere else," Green said on his podcast. "But then he got hurt, so he stayed. There was a 90% chance my brother was going to leave Golden State and go elsewhere and test that number one option thing out. Unfortunately, it wasn't in the cards, and he got hurt, and he never got the opportunity.”

Thompson already had three championships (2015, 2017, and 2018) and five straight Finals trips. The 2018-19 season was the first one after Kevin Durant’s last full year as a healthy Warrior partner, and Thompson’s deal was up.

Klay Thompson is “desperate” for ring No. 5. His dad said Steph is too. LeBron is too. And Miami was just the building he picked to chase it.