This is the first of the Thompson boys that I learned about - Mychel (bio here). Obviously, Mychel was a Pepperdine Wave [for you basketball junkies, that is coach Tom Asbury at the head of the bench]. I watched Mychel play many times, and he was almost always the smoothest player on the court. He could shoot, run and jump, and as the Pepperdine stats show in the bio, he ended up very high in many of the various offensive and defensive categories. I am a bit surprised that he has not caught on with an NBA team; however, he seems to be doing quite well in the NBA-D league.
It was not until fairly late in his career that I learned that Mychel's dad was Mychal Thompson, an NBA number one draft choice. It turns out that father Mychal was invited to be the guest commentator for Pepperdine's game versus LMU. It was dubbed the Mychal-and-Mychel Show, Live from Malibu.
So, Mychal and Mychel make for an interesting father-son due. But - many of you have likely heard about Klay Thompson, who along with Steph Curry, is one of the famed Splash Brothers of the 2015 NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. Brother Klay is the number 2 son.
Klay Thompson
So, now we have quite the trio of a father and two sons. But it gets better! Some of you may know the name Trayce Thompson. He is yet another son of Mychal and volleyball playing spouse Julie. And Trayce is playing professional baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Trayce Thompson
Talk about good genes!!
The Thompson Clan
Here is a bit of history regarding Coach Asbury [from Wikipedia]: Asbury was an assistant coach at Pepperdine for nine seasons before succeeding Jim Harrick as head coach. Asbury was very successful in his first stint at Pepperdine, becoming the conference coach of the year twice and compiling a 125–59 record in his first six years. He took the Waves to the NCAA Tournament in 1991, 1992 and 1994, as well as two NIT appearances, three regular-season WCC titles and three WCC Tournament championships. Asbury came out of retirement to coach Pepperdine for a second time prior to the 2008-09 season. After three more seasons, on March 11, 2011, Asbury announced his retirement, turning the Pepperdine program over to assistant Marty Wilson. In October 2012, Asbury was inducted into the Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly Asbury is from Denver, and there is an Asbury Avenue and an Asbury School - named after a bishop and not a coach :-)