During his ESPYs acceptance speech for the Best Comeback Athlete award, Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson shared how Kobe Bryant inspired him to become the athlete he is today. Now, Mychal Thompson spilled more details on how the Los Angeles Lakers icon made his job easy on teaching his son the right mindset to approach the game.
Speaking on 75.7 The Game (via Audacy), Mychal recalled how he used to bring Klay to Staples Center while working as a color commentator for the team. During those times, he would tell his son to talk to Kobe, with the late Lakers star graciously welcoming the young Klay and the other youngsters and teaching them his basketball ways.
“It would make my job easy when it came to basketball because I could take him to Staples Center and say, ‘There’s Kobe, go talk to him.' Then Kobe would take the time and be gracious enough to talk to Klay and other young people like Klay who were basketball players who were coming up,” Thompson revealed. “And he would tell them about the right way to approach the game, the right way to play [and] to have passion for the game.
“Yeah, you can hear that from your parents all the time. But when you have a legend, an icon like Kobe giving that type of advice, I could just sit back and relax a little bit, because he’s gonna listen to that guy probably more than he’s gonna listen to me.”
Klay Thompson is certainly thankful to his dad for bringing him to meet Kobe Bryant during those times. While the Warriors sharpshooter would probably be just fine with his dad–a former NBA player and champion himself–guiding him, it still hits different with an icon talking and sharing his knowledge to youngsters.
Of course that experience with Kobe had a lasting impression for Klay, especially during the two years he spent rehabbing back-to-back season ending injuries that required surgery.
As for Mychal, he made the right decision to have Kobe motivate his son. As a parent, he knows how influential the Lakers legend was to aspiring athletes. And true enough, it has greatly helped the Warriors guard so far in his career.
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