For the fourth time in five nights, the Los Angeles Lakers have a game against a Western Conference heavyweight. The Golden State Warriors are not to be taken lightly, and this early season back-to-back resulted in a 21-point embarrassment for the Lakers at the start of the 2013-14 season.
On that night, Klay Thompson scored 38 points on 19 shot attempts. On Saturday night, Thompson will take the Oracle Arena floor for the first time since inking a four-year extension worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $70 million.
This 24-year-old kid, who grew up a fan of the Lakers, just made it.
Saturday is special for the Thompson family, and Klay's farther, Mychal, will be present. Mychal is always present when these two teams meet because he serves as the color commentator for the Lakers' radio broadcast. Mychal, historically, has been on the Lakers' side when these two teams have met in the past.
When asked about is father's fandom in Shanghai back in 2013, Klay referred to his father picking the Lakers over his own son as "messed up" before adding that he found it "even sweeter" every time he beat the Lakers.
Mychal, who was on the Lakers' back-to-back championship teams in the 1980's, will be sitting in the bottom bowl balancing cheering for the Lakers and cheering for his son. This year more than any other, the Thompson rivalry appears to be friendlier.
Before every game, Mychal delivers his keys to the game in rhythmic, often rhyming, poetry.* When the Lakers play the Warriors on Saturday night, one of those keys will likely be Klay, but that should not distract away from the abundance of talent the Warriors have on their roster. It should, however, highlight the confused family allegiances for both teams.
If the Warriors' roster stars Klay Thompson, then it super stars Stephen Curry. David Lee and Andre Iguodala have both been All-Stars, Andrew Bogut was the first overall pick in the 2005 draft, Harrison Barnes and Shaun Livingston are two former top 10 draft picks, and Steve Kerr is coaching.
The talent doesn’t dwindle at that point, but the best way to explain the Warriors' roster is to make mention of Jerry West's involvement with the Northern California team. The architect of the Lakers from Showtime to Shaq and Kobe advises the Warriors' front office these days.
In typical Lakers and Warriors fashion, Ryan West, Jerry’s son, currently serves as Assistant Director of Scouting for the Lakers.
This sort of crisscross of familial and friendly connections common for most Californians is probably best explained with the story of Lakers' point guard Jeremy Lin.
Lin was born down in Torrance but grew up in Palo Alto. He joined the NBA with the Warriors but now plays for the Lakers. For LA, Lin just put on his best outing since throwing on the Lakers' colors. He finished with 17 points, nine assists and four rebounds in 35 minutes against the Clippers in Friday night’s slender defeat.
On Saturday, he goes home to where he grew up, and on Saturday night, Lin will represent LA against the San Francisco Bay. Tip-off is 7:30 p.m.
*Recently, I had the pleasure of telling Mychal personally that I’ve always enjoyed his pregame poetry. If you live in LA, tune to 710 AM on your radio dial at about 7:20 p.m. You'll hear it, gain some knowledge and be especially entertained if you enjoy puns.
