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Klay Thompson signed with the Miami Heat this offseason, and his father, Mychal Thompson, says his son has one major goal he wants to accomplish. Mychal recently appeared on the Hochman, Crowder and Solana show, where he was asked what Klay still has to give to an organization like the Heat.
“Well, he still loves playing basketball,” Mychal said. “He’s kept that passion. He still wants to play. Still has a love, deep love and affection for the game. That’s No. 1. And No. 2, four rings. He’s desperate to get that fifth ring. So is Steph [Curry]. So is LeBron [James]. Because when you get to that five-ring class, that’s like a special class.
“Robert Horry is there,” Mychal continued. “Obviously Kobe [Bryant], Magic [Johnson], Tim Duncan, players like that are five rings or more. Scottie Pippen, Michael Jordan… I always say, forget Bill Russell, forget Sam Jones, 10, 11 rings. Nobody’s ever going to get to that.
“I don’t even think [Victor] Wembanyama is going to get to 10 or 11 rings,” Mychal added. “I don’t know if I’ll be around to see it, but I like to see somebody get to challenge that. But if you can get to that fifth ring, oh man, that is such a special club to be in. Because five, six, seven, beyond that, that’s only 26 players in the history of basketball have five rings or more.”
That is indeed a very small club. Klay and his former Golden State Warriors teammate Stephen Curry have four rings, and so does their great rival, LeBron James. Curry and James are desperate to win another, and so is he.
While there is no reason to doubt Mychal, who had a 12-year NBA career of his own, his son actually mentioned this a few years ago. Back in 2022, Klay spoke about wanting to enter “The Five Rings and Above Club.”
“The Five Rings and Above Club,” Klay said. “I didn’t know the list was that small. And the players who played in the modern era? It’s even shorter. So it’s like, Wow, that’s the only motivation I really need.”
Klay, of course, had just won his fourth NBA title with the Warriors in 2022, and his confidence would have been sky-high at the time. If you’d told him then that he’d only win one playoff series in the four years that followed, he would have laughed in your face. Unfortunately, that is how things have panned out.
The Warriors fell woefully short in their quest to defend their title, as they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference Semifinals in the 2023 playoffs. They then missed the playoffs in 2024 after losing to the Sacramento Kings in the play-in tournament.
Klay infamously shot 0-10 from the field in that 118-94 loss to the Kings, and that proved to be his last game with the Warriors. He left for the Dallas Mavericks via a sign-and-trade in 2024 in the belief that he’d win that fifth title playing next to Luka Doncic.
Unfortunately for Klay, Doncic was traded to the Lakers in February 2025. The Mavericks then missed the playoffs that year and also in 2026. They had entered rebuild mode, and there was no chance of glory in the near future in Dallas.
With that being the case, Klay managed to secure a buyout from the Mavericks, leaving close to $10 million on the table. The five-time All-Star then signed a two-year, $11.5 million deal with the Heat.
When speaking about the decision to join the Heat, Klay said he had tasted winning before and wanted another shot at it. The 36-year-old has joined forces with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo in Miami, and it will be interesting to see how far they go.
Now, this, of course, isn’t Klay in his prime. He averaged 11.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.5 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game for the Mavericks in 2025-26. There is talk about him being washed, but Mychal unsurprisingly still believes in his son.
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