The Golden State Warriors star Klay Thompson was recently seen on The Bahamas Basketball Federation’s Instagram profile. The 34-year-old practiced with their Olympic training camp which triggered suspicion among basketball fans that the four-time NBA Champion would represent the Caribbean nation at Paris. So, let’s look at Thompson’s heritage and where his parents are from to understand if that’s possible.
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Thompson was born in Los Angeles, California to Mychal and Julie Thompson. His father, Mychal was born in Eleuthera, Bahamas which is the root of his association with the country. Klay’s brother Mychel Thompson represented the Bahamas men’s national basketball team in the 2022 FIBA AmeriCup qualification.
Mychal Thompson had a very interesting route to pro basketball. Moving to Florida as a teenager to pursue basketball in high school, Mychal went all over the country on his route to the NBA. After his escapades in high school, the Bahamian center represented the Minnesota Golden Gophers in college, before getting selected as the first overall pick in the 1978 NBA draft by the Portland Trail Blazers.
Klay Thompson is set to join Team Bahamas for training camp in Houston this week, sources tell me and @anthonyVslater. He is not expected to play in Olympic qualifier. Thompson is expected to test free agency in coming weeks.
Details at @TheAthletic: https://t.co/IXY5sdrTSn
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 17, 2024
Despite his roots, however, Klay Thompson is not eligible to represent the Bahamas at the Olympics this year for two reasons.
As per Shams Charania, Klay is not going to receive clearance to represent another country, especially since he has represented the United States at global events such as the 2016 Olympics and the 2014 World Cup in Spain. On top of that, the FIBA guidelines only allow one neutralized player in each team. In this equation, the Phoenix Suns’ Eric Gordon has already taken up that spot for the upcoming Olympics in Paris.
How many NBA stars represent the Bahamas
Klay being spotted with the Bahamas team was not a planned move. Instead, he was there because of his ties with the country. The Warriors star was joined by several other basketball stars at the Bahamian training camp. Apart from Klay and Gordon, several other known names come from the Bahamian heritage. Deandre Ayton, Buddy Hield, Evan Mobley, and Naz Reid are notable NBA names with Caribbean heritage through their parents.
As for their chances in the Paris Olympics 2024, the Bahamas needs to go through a six-team qualifying tournament. The tournament will be held in the first week of July in Valencia, Spain where they will battle against Angola, Finland, Lebanon, Poland, and Spain. If the team manages to get through that challenge, they will be representing their country in the upcoming Olympics where one of their biggest challenges will be a stacked team USA.
