Klay Thompson grew up a ‘big-time Blazers fan.’
Playoffs hit home: Thompson back where it all began
PORTLAND, Ore. — Native son returns home, to play against the team he adored as a child, packing the arena of his youth with lots of friends and family. Sound familiar? It certainly does to Warriors guard Klay Thompson.
“The Rose Garden was so much fun to go to as a kid,” Thompson said. “I was a big-time Blazers fan. I spent my whole childhood in Portland.”
Much has been made in the Western Conference finals of Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard facing his childhood team. Less is made of Thompson going up against his first basketball love, the team that drafted his father Mychal No. 1 in 1978. That led to Mychal meeting Ridgefield, Wash., native Julie
Leslie, marrying her in 1987 and moving back to Portland to raise their three sons, Mychel, Klay and Trayce.
“It’s very nostalgic,” Mychal said, “every time I see those Portland uniforms. Portland is like a second home to me and my family.”
As much as Lillard represents Oakland, Thompson was molded by his childhood in the Northwest.
While we think of Thompson as a laid-back beach dude (“That’s a good assessment,” Thompson agrees), thanks to his roots that extend to the Bahamas and Southern California, his lineage can also be traced to the rain forests and deep rivers of the Northwest.
“I’m like a chameleon, I can adapt to anything,” Thompson said. “I do love Portland. I don’t mind the rain. I appreciate how green Oregon is, I appreciate the clean air and the trees and all the beautiful landscaping and the terrain.
“I grew up there, obviously, so it makes me appreciate the outdoors. The Bay is very similar. Oakland is similar in that aspect. I don’t mind the rain. I grew up in it, so it’s no big deal.”
It’s fun to hear Thompson riff on the Northwest. If Thompson feels the need for some Pacific Ocean healing — like he famously did in the first round in Los Angeles — where would he go to get it?
“Shoot, you want to go to the Oregon coast, but you might get hypothermia,” Thompson said. “You can jump in for a little bit, you’d be all right, but you might want to bring a wetsuit. It’s kind of sharky up there too, so you’d look like a pretty big seal.
“But other than that, jump in the Columbia. Maybe the Willamette, not close to the city but down a little bit. Lake Oswego is nice. You’d find some nice body of water. They’ve got a lot of them up there.” Voodoo Doughnuts? “It’s good but the line’s always long, you have to have patience.” Mandatory stops? “Try to hit Burgerville. Go see my family in Vancouver (Wash.). Just Burgerville and my family.”
It’s not just the climate. Or the sharky coast. Or the doughnuts. Or the cousins and uncles and grandmother.
There’s something very Portland embedded deep in Thompson’s soul.
“Klay is definitely a Northwest kid,” said his childhood friend Seth Tarver, who has known Klay and his brothers for 20 years. “He is not flashy. He doesn’t act like a big star. He’s just an average Joe.”
Mychal Thompson agrees. Growing up in the suburban community of Lake Oswego affected Thompson to his core.
“It set the foundation for him,” Mychal said. “It’s such a close-knit community, with a small-town feel, small-town values. Everyone pulls together as a community. It shaped him to be the introspective young man he turned out to be.”
A move to Southern California couldn’t change that. When Klay was entering high school, Mychal took a job with the Lakers — the team with which he won two NBA championships — and uprooted his family to Orange County.
“It was professionally the toughest thing I had to do in my life, “Mychal said. “Uproot them from family and friends. They were so entrenched. It broke my heart.” It was hard on everyone. “I thought, ‘What am I going to do?’ ” Tarver said. “I hung out with them all the time. It was tough.”
And they had to give up the Trail Blazers. When Klay and his brothers were young, Mychal worked for the team and attended games. The family lived down the street from the boys’ favorite player, Rasheed Wallace. The Wallace children and the Thompson boys were friends.
Klay has a memory of meeting Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen after a game when he was about 5 or 6. Jordan rubbed little Klay on his head.
“I was so shy at the time,” Thompson said. “I’ve seen footage of it. That’s probably my favorite memory because when they came to town you had to go to that game.
“Kind of the same thing we bring,” he added with a smile, “when the Warriors come to town.”
The Thompsons and their friends lived and died with the Blazers. Tarver remembers being crushed in the 2000 Western Conference finals when, in Game 7 with a 16-point lead over the mighty Lakers, the Blazers fell to a comeback led by Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal.
Tarver played high school ball with Klay’s older brother Mychel and went on to be one of Portland’s top high school players and play collegiately at Oregon State. He played college ball against Klay, who stayed rooted in the Northwest by attending Washington State.
“We all dreamed of playing in the NBA,” Tarver said. “We didn’t know Klay was going to be the best.
“We were all quiet, but he was the most quiet.”
Thompson can still be quiet, and doesn’t love doing media interviews. Despite those high school years in Southern California and being around the Lakers, he never turned Hollywood.
But when he does talk, he is sound-bite gold. That, too, can be attributed to his Portland roots.
“Even in his interviews, he can’t be cliche or fake,” Tarver said. “That’s why he says memorable things. He gives an honest response.
“He can’t fake it. That’s a Northwest quality.”
Next stop: Burgerville.