Klay Thompson can certainly attribute some of his NBA success to his genes, but genes alone don’t win you four championships.
Thompson one-upped his father by emerging as one of the sport’s all-time great shooters alongside Stephen Curry and serving as one of the focal points of a Golden State Warriors dynasty.
While Thompson is the most successful member of his family on the court, he comes from an entire family of athletes. Here’s what you need to know about Thompson’s athletic family, from his dad to his brothers.
Trayce Thompson: The Baseball Brother
If you see a Thompson who resembles the NBA star on the baseball diamond, you’re not mistaken.
Trayce Thompson is Klay’s brother, despite playing an entirely different sport professionally. While Trayce had a hard time establishing himself as a full-time MLB player, he appeared in 369 games from 2015-23 and has now twice represented Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic.
Trayce is an MLB journeyman outfielder who’s appeared in games for five teams across parts of seven seasons. Debuting with the White Sox in 2015, Trayce hit 13 home runs with the Dodgers in 2016 and found his way back to L.A. to tie his career-high of 13 again in 2022.
Trayce Thompson for THREE!!
He has 2 HR & 7 RBI tonight
(via @Dodgers)pic.twitter.com/PDnpIcsAf9
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) April 2, 2023
Most recently, Trayce appeared in games with the Dodgers and White Sox in 2023, struggling to recapture the success he found in a platoon role a season earlier. Trayce has a career .212 AVG but a more respectable .711 OPS due to his solid power.
Trayce spent 2024 and 2025 trying to climb back to the major leagues. He spent all of 2025 in the Red Sox’ system, hitting 13 home runs in 94 games with triple-A Worcester but batting only .225.
In 2023, Trayce represented Great Britain at the World Baseball Classic. He’s on Great Britain’s roster again for the 2026 tournament.
Why Great Britain?
Because the World Baseball Classic has fairly relaxed eligibility standards, Trayce is able to play for Great Britain due to his father’s roots in the Bahamas. Trayce himself was born in Los Angeles, but the Bahamas still has Great Britain’s King Charles III as head of state despite now being an independent nation.
Jazz Chisholm Jr., who’s also from the Bahamas, is representing Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic as well.
Mychel Thompson: The Basketball Brother
Thompson’s older brother, Mychel, comes from a basketball background. He spent four seasons at Pepperdine but went undrafted in 2011, the same year in which Klay was selected by the Warriors.
Mychel bounced around for six years, playing for three different G League teams (then known as the D-League) and briefly playing for an Italian professional team. He appeared in five NBA games with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2011-12, starting three, but never found his way back to the league.
Since officially retiring in 2018, Mychel has remained around the game of basketball. After spending time around the team in an unofficial role, Mychel joined the Warriors as a player development coach in 2021, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
In 2025, the Hawks announced Mychel was hired as a pro scout under GM Onsi Saleh. Mychel is also on the Bahamas men’s basketball team coaching staff.
Klay’s Personal Life
Thompson started dating rapper Megan Thee Stallion in 2025. While the exact start date of their relationship isn’t clear, the first public indication of a romance came when fans spotted the NBA star in the background of an Instagram photo in July.
Weeks later, Thompson and Megan Thee Stallion appeared together at a gala in New York City, seemingly confirming their relationship. The two started posting images together on social media in the weeks that followed, leaving no doubt.
While their relationship is still fresh, Megan Thee Stallion said in February 2026 that she’s “manifesting” her own engagement after seeing USA women’s hockey star Hilary Knight get engaged at the Winter Olympics. Since she and Thompson remain together, that sounds like a clear message to the Mavericks guard.
Mychal Thompson: The Father
Klay Thompson wasn’t the first NBA player in his family. His father, Mychal, set the standard with more than a decade in the league after the Portland Trail Blazers selected him No. 1 overall in the 1978 draft. He’s one of five players born in the Bahamas to be selected in the NBA Draft.
Mychal averaged a career-high 20.8 points per game in Portland in 1981-82 and remained with the Trail Blazers until 1986. He played a more refined role later in his career but found great success in it, winning two championships off the bench with the Lakers and finishing out his NBA career in Los Angeles.
Mychal was hired as a radio color commentator for the Lakers in 2003 and remains a radio analyst for the team. He also hosted multiple radio shows in Los Angeles during his post-playing career.
Julie Thompson: The Mother
Thompson’s mother, Julie, played volleyball at the University of Portland, where she met her husband. She later transferred to the University of San Francisco to continue playing volleyball. Julie also starred in track and field in high school.
Trayce told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2015 that his parents never put pressure on him or his siblings to play a particular sport. “Completely different from other sports parents we knew,” he said.
Rocco the Dynasty Dog
Thompson owned a bulldog dog named Rocco for 13 years before his beloved pet’s death in May of 2025.
“13 glorious years with my boy,” Thompson said when he announced Rocco’s passing, calling him a “great dynasty dog.” Rocco was by Thompson’s side throughout the heart of his NBA career, including from the start of the Warriors’ dynasty to the very end.
As Golden State came to power in the NBA, Rocco’s platform began to grow. He even had his own Instagram page with 60,000 followers, where he was frequently pictured either living large or supporting Thompson in the gym.
International Representation
Thompson was born in Los Angeles, but he’s part-Bahamian through his father. His mother, who is white, was born in Washington.
While Trayce plays for Great Britain in the World Baseball Classic and Mychel represented the Bahamas in international basketball competition, Klay represented the United States in the 2014 FIBA World Cup and in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Thompson was born in Los Angeles but moved to Lake Oswego, Oregon, when he was only two years old. The Thompson family would move back to Southern California in the early 2000s, and Thompson graduated from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in 2008.
Despite roots in California and Oregon, Thompson spent his college career at Washington State under coaches Tony Bennett and Ken Bone.
