Klay Thompson completed a comeback story for the ages in the 2021-22 season as he returned from over two years on the sidelines to help the Warriors become NBA champions once again. Klay wasn’t quite at his best, as is to be expected of someone who suffered a torn ACL followed by a torn Achilles, but he still managed to make an impact.
His efforts saw him being crowned as Comeback Player of the Year at the ESPYs, and in his acceptance speech, Klay thanked Kobe Bryant for being his inspiration. On the back of it, his father, Mychal Thompson, also spoke about the influence Kobe had on his son during an appearance on the Willard and Dibs show.
Via Audacy:
“It would make my job easy when it came to basketball,” Thompson told hosts Mark Willard and Dan Dibley. “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 and he would tell them about the right way to approach the game, the right way to play, to have practice before the game.”
“Yeah, you can ask your parents all the time,” Thompson said, “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.”
A young Klay would attend games with his father, a longtime Lakers radio announcer, which led to him crossing paths with Bryant at a very young age. Kobe undoubtedly played a role in helping Klay become who he is today, and it’s wonderful to find out about behind-the-scenes stories like this one.
Klay isn’t the first and won’t be the last one to be inspired by Kobe, as his legacy will stand the test of time. The likes of Kyrie Irving also shared a special bond with Bryant, and it’s great to see that he has managed to influence so many of the stars in the league today.
