Klay Alexander Thompson (born February 8, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played his first 13 seasons with the Golden State Warriors, where he was one half of the "Splash Brothers", the other half being Stephen Curry. He is widely regarded as one of the best three-point shooters of all time. Thompson is a four-time NBA champion, a five-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-NBA Third Team honoree, and was once named to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. He has also won multiple gold medals with the United States national team on their 2014 World Cup team and 2016 Olympic team.
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.
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 named Pac-10 Player of the Week three times when he won the award for the week of Nov. 22–28, extending the record to four after the week of December 6–12. Soon after, Thompson was named one of the 30 midseason candidates for the John R. Wooden Award. In the 2011 Pac-10 tournament, he set tournament records with 43 points and eight three-pointers. Thompson finished the season by setting WSU's single season scoring record with 733 points. He is WSU's third all-time leading scorer.
On January 18, 2020, Washington State retired the No. 1 that Thompson wore in college. He became the second WSU men's basketball player to receive this honor, joining Steve Puidokas, and the seventh WSU athlete in any sport whose number has been retired.
Golden State Warriors (2011–2024)
Thompson declared for the 2011 NBA draft after his junior season, being selected 11th overall by the Golden State Warriors. Starting the season on the bench, Thompson would become a starter for the latter third of the season after the Warriors traded longtime starter Monta Ellisin March 2012. Warriors general manager Larry Riley praised Thompson for his shooting ability and expressed confidence that Thompson would improve his defensive skills with new coach Mark Jackson.
The NBA did not select Thompson for the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend Rising Stars Challenge. However, in the four games after that decision, Thompson improved in all areas of basketball over his then-current season averages: points per game (12.5 over 7.6), shooting percentage (54.3% overall including 55.6% for three-pointers, up from 46.7 and 48.1), rebounds (2.8 from 1.6), assists (1.5 from 1.3), steals, and turnovers. The Warriors traded Ellis to the Milwaukee Bucks on March 13, 2012. The following game, Thompson scored a season-high 26 points in a loss to the Boston Celtics. A week later, he exceeded his previous high with 27 points in a win over the New Orleans Hornets. As of mid-February 2012, Thompson played around 17 minutes per game, but he played an average 30 minutes per game during the next month. At the end of the season, Thompson was voted to the NBA NBA All-Rookie First Team.
On January 29, 2013, Thompson scored a season-high 32 points against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Warriors coach Mark Jackson said that Thompson and Stephen Curry formed the best shooting duo in NBA history. That season, they combined made 483 three-pointers, the most ever by an NBA duo at the time. The Warriors defeated the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the playoffs, and were next matched up against the San Antonio Spurs. On May 8, 2013, Thompson recorded a playoff career-high 34 points against San Antonio, hitting 8-of-9 three-pointers, to go along with a career-high 14 rebounds. The Warriors lost to the Spurs in six games.
In the opening game for the Warriors, Thompson scored a season-high 38 points, including 5-of-7 three-pointers. He and Curry set an NBA record for 484 combined threes on the season, besting by one the record they set the previous year. Thompson averaged 18.4 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists on the year. Thompson and the Warriors entered the 2014 NBA playoffs as the sixth seed in the Western Conference and were matched up with the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round; they lost the series in seven games.
First All-Star selection and NBA championship (2014–2015)
On October 31, 2014, Thompson signed a four-year, $70 million contract extension with the Warriors. The next day, he scored a then career-high 41 points in the Warriors' 127–104 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers. On January 23, 2015, Thompson scored a career-high 52 points, with 11 three-pointers, in a 126–101 victory over the Sacramento Kings. In the third quarter of that game, he scored an NBA-record 37 points for a single quarter, going 13-for-13 from the field, including nine three-pointers (also a league record for a single quarter). The 13 field goals tied David Thompson's (no relation) record for a quarter. On January 29, 2015, Thompson was named a reserve for the 2015 Western Conference All-Star team for the first time in his career.