In the previous two frustrating years, during the NBA playoffs, Klay Thompson would turn to his roommate and ask him to please turn off the television.
“Go watch it in your room,” Klay would tell his older brother, Mychel.
“It killed me not to be there,” Klay said. “It was really hard to watch and think, ‘I swear, at full power, we’re as good if not better than those teams. “”
But now, in the NBA Finals, the Thompson brothers are in the same room. Participate, not watch. Klay is almost at full strength after two devastating injuries. And Mychel is officially a staff member of the Golden State Warriors.
Mychel, 34, who has been on the team for years, was quietly added to the Warriors coaching/player development staff about a month into the regular season and is learning the ropes.
As well as launching his coaching career, Mychel was a constant source of support for his younger brother through more than 30 months of brutal rehabilitation.
“Oh man, it was nice to have Mykee around,” Klay said. “He helped me a lot.”
Mychel Thompson is in the “family business,” as the Thompsons call basketball. The eldest son of Mychal (the No. 1 pick in the 1978 NBA draft) and Julie Thompson, he is 20 months older than Klay and 3 years older than the youngest Trayce. They grew up around the game: Mychal was still playing when the boys were little and is now a broadcaster for the Lakers.
Mychel played college basketball at Pepperdine and bounced around development teams and NBA training camps for a few years. At one point, he and Seth Curry shared a backcourt with the Santa Cruz Warriors — “Santa Cruz Splash Brothers” — and Mychel won an NBA Development League championship with Santa Cruz in 2015.
He continues to play with the Bahamas national team and has long been a regular at Warriors training.
Earlier this season, assistant coach Chris DeMarco, director of player affairs Shaun Livingston and director of player development Jama Mahalalela suggested to head coach Steve Kerr that Mychel’s role be made official.
“They said, ‘Let’s bring it on,'” Kerr said. “I accepted him. He attends coaching meetings and wants to start a career.
Mychel said he is still researching what kind of role would suit him best in the long run. Right now, he enjoys being part of the team.
“I can still go up and down, so they have me playing and training with the guys,” he said. “I’m still a capable body, so it’s almost like having an extra practice player. And I can be with my brother and basketball, which I love.
Klay clearly enjoys having his brother around.
“He is still in great shape. He can still play five-on-five with the guys,” Klay said. “I hope he can turn this into a coaching gig one day because he is so good at teaching. He has a great spirit around him. The guys really like her presence.
“Mykee is a big help,” goalkeeper Damion Lee said. “He is always present and ready to work. When I come home before practice, he’s there asking me if I want to get shot. Whatever he sees, he is not afraid to speak up and help. He’s been a huge help to me personally, and to a lot of young guys.
No one has benefited more from Mychel’s help than Klay, as he recovered first from a torn ACL and then a ruptured Achilles.
“I just tried to keep him in a good mood and keep him positive,” Mychel said. “Most of the time he couldn’t really move. So we played a lot of video games. He read a lot and I tried to give him space.
Helping to lift Klay’s spirits was Mychel and the Thompsons’ best friend Seth Tarver, who is also staying with Klay in the Oakland Hills. I brought him food. Drove him after Achilles injury, which kept him out of driving for several months. Worked with him.
“Mykee has been a very consistent support system for Klay in both good and bad times,” Tarver said. “Sometimes you need a big brother to control you and sometimes to support you.”
There were boat trips, although Klay was more interested in spearfishing than Mychel. Bulldog Rocco also occasionally went on the boat, although he needed a watchful eye. Rocco has his own life jacket because he can’t swim.
“There were a few times a bird came on the boat and it will try to chase it away,” Mychel said. “We’re like, ‘Chill, Rocco. You can’t swim.
Much of the past three years has been spent keeping Klay’s spirits up.
“He’s such a tough guy that he always said, ‘I can do this. I can do it,’ and he wouldn’t ask for help until he really had to,” Mychel said. “So sometimes I was doing things before he could even ask. He is so stubborn and competitive.
“But he’s my brother. I will do everything I can for him.
The Warriors have created a family atmosphere within the team. Kerr’s son Nick works for the team, as do both of Joe Lacob’s sons. Lee is Stephen Curry’s brother-in-law. Mychel Thompson adds to this family culture.
The Warriors could also see how important it was to have Mychel around as Klay worked his way back to full health.
“He’s someone who has literally known Klay since birth,” Lee said. “He knows how he works, he knows how he moves, if he’s in a good mood or in a bad mood. I think that was huge.
No one was closer to Klay’s long journey home than Mychel. And the older brother relishes moments like Game 5 against Dallas, when Klay scored 32 points to put his team back in the NBA Finals.
“I mean, I always knew it was possible,” Mychel said, “but to see him is still almost unbelievable. Like he said, around this time last year, he was just starting to to jog.
“Honestly, it’s a bit hard to put into words because I saw how hard he had to work to get here. The blood, sweat and tears that went into it.
“I couldn’t be more proud of him.”
And this June, no one has to go to the other room to watch the NBA Finals. The Thompson brothers participate in it together.
Ann Killion is a columnist for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected]: @annkillion
