Klay Thompson signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal with the Miami Heat earlier this week, despite many feeling like the Los Angeles Lakers would have been his best destination.

That group includes his dad — longtime Lakers star Mychal Thompson. The elder Thompson made that clear during an appearance on the “Locked On Heat” podcast on Wednesday.

“What kind of influence do I have on [Klay’s] opinion? Isn’t it obvious? None! I wanted him to be [on the] Lakers. I thought the Lakers would be perfect for him the last three years,” Mychal said.

When speaking about Klay’s fit with the Heat and the Lakers, Mychal said, “Very similar fit; it have been perfect on either [team]. He fit perfectly here with Luka [Dončić], and Austin Reeves, and Walker Kessler, and the outside shooting the Lakers need, the outside shooting that Luka Dončić loves to have around him. But it’s the exact same of perfect fit in Miami too.”

Klay ended his 13-season tenure with the Warriors after joining the Dallas Mavericks via free agency in 2024.

The Lakers reportedly offered Thompson a huge contract at the time, but Klay signed a three-year, $50 million contract with the Mavericks instead, largely because he thought the team had a clearer path to winning a championship.

“I wanted him to be [on the] Lakers; I thought the Lakers would be perfect for him the last three years, especially when he became a free agent a few years ago, when the Lakers are pursuing him heavily,” Mychal said. “I thought he’d be perfect at the time to team up with LeBron and Anthony Davis to provide that outside shooting, along with Austin Reeves, that we needed.”

Mychal, who has worked as a Lakers radio color commentator for over 20 years, was then asked what the problem with his Lakers pitches to Klay.

“The only thing I could figure out is, since I work for the Lakers, and I travel with the Lakers, I guess he just don’t want to be on the road with me, in [the] hotel,” Mychal said somewhat jokingly.

“He don’t want me knocking on his door to be checking on curfew, make sure he’s there. So I guess that’s why [he] figured, ‘I’m not going there to have my dad follow me on the road!’”

Klay will instead joining a retooled Heat team after it acquired Giannis Antetokounmpo in a blockbuster trade with the Bucks this offseason.