Golden State’s team salary might be soaring, but Mychal Thompson says the Warriors need to keep it together at all costs.
Klay’s father joined 95.7 The Game’s “The Morning Roast” Wednesday for a great chat, while also claiming to be a nine-time champ – twice as a player, four times as a dad and three times as a broadcaster for the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Tell Bill Russell – two more and I’m gonna catch him,” Thompson quipped.
Thompson, the No. 1 overall pick in 1978, played in the NBA for 12 seasons and wrapped up his career with the Showtime Lakers. He said the Warriors should learn lessons from past dynasties of bygone eras.
“(Owners) Joe Lacob, Peter Guber, (general manager) Bob Myers – they have to learn a lesson from the Chicago Bulls, Kobe and Shaq’s Lakers and the fact that KD (Kevin Durant) left (the Warriors). Don't break it up too soon,” Thompson told Bonta Hill and Joe Shasky. “The Bulls broke theirs up too soon. They coulda won another couple. For some reason, they got tired of winning championships, winning rings. Explain that to me. Shaq and Kobe had something special. Even they’ve admitted that they shouldn’t have left each other, Shaq said they had more rings to win. KD left to go win somewhere else. He shoulda stayed.”
So, where do the Warriors rank among all-time dynasties?
The Showtime Lakers won five titles in the span of nine seasons. The Bulls, of course, won six in eight seasons.
"For the Warriors to get there, shoulder-to-shoulder with those two franchise dynasties, they need to win a couple more. Maybe one more."
Thompson also added Bill Russell’s Celtics, who won 11 titles in 13 years, are in a class of their own.
As Thompson told CBS Sports Radio’s Zach Gelb Show Tuesday, he thinks the Warriors have a lot more left in the tank.
“When you have something as special as the Warriors have right now in the palm of their hand? You keep it together as long as possible ‘til you suck out every last possible drop of fuel,” Thompson said. “They better keep this team together -- and I mean everybody -- for the next four or five years, and they could win several more rings. They are that good and that deep. As Klay, Steph and Dray get older, they get youngsters coming up behind them who can take a lot of the slack. That way they can can preserve, Steph, Klay and Draymond’s minutes and let them play late into their 30s and still be All-Star caliber players.”
Thompson is excited about the next wave of Warriors talent, led by 23-year-old Jordan Poole, 19-year-old Jonathan Kuminga, 20-year-old Moses Moody and 21-year-old James Wiseman. He’s also proud to see his son take on a leadership role with the youngsters, after getting tips from players like Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Clyde Drexler and Rasheed Wallace growing up.
“That's real manly,” Thompson said. “Klay's being a real man about that. It's great to see."
