Lakers News: LA, Dallas Klay Thompson Recruiting Came Down to 2 Former All-Star Teammates

Thompson chose the Mavericks over the Lakers.

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers missed out on acquiring former Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson, who instead went to the Dallas Mavericks on a three-year, $50 million deal. Thompson had spent his entire career prior with the Warriors.

While LeBron James was trying to recruit Thompson to the Lakers over the weekend, he had some competition. His former teammate, Kyrie Irving, was working on recruiting Thompson to the Mavericks as well, per Marc Stein.

Klay Thompson had face-to-face meetings with both the Lakers and Mavericks in L.A. on Sunday night, league sources say.

In addition Dallas had Klay's former @USABasketball teammate Kyrie Irving to counter recruiting from LeBron James.

More NBA from me: https://t.co/A6ycVmnZ8Y https://t.co/ADUvbGRe9Y

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2024

James and Irving were teammates on the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the two won a championship together in 2016, when they defeated Thompson and the Warriors.

Thompson met with both the Lakers and Mavericks on Sunday night in Los Angeles, and ended up agreeing to join Dallas the following day. Of course, Irving and James were not the deciding factors in Thompson heading to Dallas. Per a report, Thompson chose the Mavericks because Texas is easier than California financially, and the Mavericks are coming off an NBA Finals run. Thompson still wants to compete for a championship, and the Mavericks did a better job of that last season than the Lakers, who were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Lakers fans are far from the only ones disappointed though. Even Thompson's dad, Mychal Thompson, was hoping that his son would head to the Lakers. Mychal played for the Lakers during his own NBA career, and Klay was born in Los Angeles.

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