The Los Angeles Lakers made a strong effort to acquire Klay Thompson before he landed with the Dallas Mavericks, and one report explained why the veteran sharpshooter turned down an opportunity to play alongside LeBron James.
Thompson on Monday agreed to a three-year, $50 million contract with the Mavericks as part of a sign-and-trade. There have been reports that the Lakers offered significantly more money, but it was initially unclear if Thompson turned it down or if Golden State was not interested in what L.A. had to offer in a trade.
According to a story that was published on Wednesday by ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne and Kendra Andrews, LeBron James was willing to take less money on his new deal to help the Lakers offer Thompson somewhere in the range of $80 million over four years. LeBron also had “several deep conversations” with Thompson, but ultimately the four-time NBA champion decided that playing for the Lakers would be too similar to playing in Golden State.
One source told ESPN that Thompson wondered, “Would this be trading one fishbowl for another?”
Thompson also chose the Mavericks in part because they just reached the NBA Finals, so he feels they are closer to winning a title than the Lakers. He wanted a completely fresh start after his relationship with the Warriors soured, and he believes he has a much better shot at that in Dallas than L.A.
Thompson’s father, Mychal Thompson, played for the Lakers for four-plus seasons during the team’s famous Showtime era. Mychal won back-to-back championships with L.A. in 1988 and 1989 and is now the team’s radio color commentator. Even he publicly tried to pressure his son into joining the Lakers, but neither LeBron’s nor his own father’s sales pitch was enough to convince Klay.
