An Afternoon With Klay Thompson, The NBA’s Most Normal 25-Year-Old Mega-Successful Millionaire

Around noon last Wednesday, I veered off of the I-10 freeway, steering my car toward The Montage, Beverly Hills. I was going to meet Klay Thompson — who was in L.A. with the Warriors for three preseason games. As I eased my car into the parking lot, I clocked a few autograph hounds lingering near the front of the property. They wore all the telltale signs of pros: The stuffed duffel bags full of balls, the looks of agitated readiness, and the beaten posture (seemingly speaking to the fact that the Montage has a protected driveway which doesn’t lend itself to autograph seeking).

Thompson’s signature would have been a score for the hounds, one which they could undoubtedly sell on eBay. The 6’7 swingman is both an ascending star, and a handsome/charming/marketable persona — the type of guy whose name people like to have in their collections.

I left my car with the valet and headed upstairs to one of the guest rooms, where the interview would take place. The room was crowded with people — each with slightly overlapping interests that I tried to unbraid as I introduced myself. While Klay and I chatted, he was going to be multi-tasking to the Nth degree: Shooting a video in his new role as a brand ambassador for HUE for Every Man, taking photos in a variety of suits and casual wear for a fashion company, and getting his haircut by his L.A. barber, T.K. Bennet. The cut was actually a big part of the whole scene, because Thompson was just a few days away from the Warriors’ ring ceremony. My interview would be conducted mid-cut with cameras documenting everything, a level of production that probably still feels a little unnerving for the young star, but is quickly becoming a more common occurrence in his life.

Upon entering the room, the first thing I learned was that Thompson was going to arrive well behind earlier estimates. Not by a few minutes, more like an hour. This bothered absolutely no one. A big indicator that Klay Thompson has entered a new stratosphere of fame is that his arrival times are no longer measured in minutes, but in “windows.” As the afternoon wore on, updates on his movements came via text: “He’s at the hotel,” “he’s in the shower,” “he’s on the way up,” “he’s walking in the door.” Until there he was, wearing Team U.S.A. gear, saying a few quick and exceedingly polite hellos, and making a beeline for a Subway sandwich which had been picked up by a publicist.

For a few minutes, 12 of us milled around while Klay Thompson ate a sub. This intrigued me endlessly. We were at a five-star hotel, with an elite basketball player and a bunch of people who wanted that elite basketball player to be happy. Thompson could have ordered something to be sent up, he could have paid to have something custom-made, he could have done… pretty much anything. And yet he was giddy, exuberant even, about his five-dollar foot-long. To me, this was perhaps the first major insight into the life of one of the greatest athletes playing the game today: He’s still a regular 25-year-old dude who opts for Subway more than a grilled ahi sandwich with unagi sauce.

After Thompson finished his lunch, the shoot started. T.K. flicked on his clippers, the cameras rolled, and I launched into the questions.

Products furnished by HUE for Everyman, an official sponsor of Klay Thompson.

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After you guys won the title, how long did you give yourself just to chill? I mean, was it 10 cupcakes a day for few weeks?

I gave myself a month just to do whatever. I gained a few pounds, but that was light weight — it was easy to work off once I got in the swing of things. When you play until June, it’s a nine-month season, so you’ve just got to recenter yourself. That’s what I try to do.

It’s almost like intentionally taking time away just to get your head right?

You have to fight the urge to pick up a basketball. You can go shoot at the beach or at the park, but you have to stay out of the gym. Enjoy the summertime, enjoy nature, and just get out of the arena for a minute.

Did you go on vacation?

I went to the Bahamas — I get to see my family, go fishing, go diving. I went spearfishing for the first time, but didn’t catch a damn thing. The water’s so beautiful out there that it’s fun to do that stuff… I’m lucky to have family over there. Then I got to go to Mexico for Iguodala’s wedding — in Cabo — that was a great time at a really nice resort.

Then what’s the rest of the offseason like after that? Does it turn to all-basketball? 

I’m thinking hoops, but not the same way I am when I get into training camp. I get my workouts in every day, but you have to enjoy the offseason, you have to go do things. I play a lot of golf, I love to go to the beach, I go see my brother play because his season with the White Sox is opposite of ours. So, I went out there for a week, just to spend time with him.

In those times when you’re not thinking basketball, what else are you into? Movies? Food? 

I watch movies, but it’s rare you see a good movie in theaters anymore. First of all, it’s expensive, then you get out and you don’t really know what you spent your money on. I did watch Straight Outta Compton in theaters, though. That was good, it felt like a movie — with the story and the character development. And it was a true story, that was the best part.

I’m not like a food person, really, but I like to go over to Steph’s house to get [Curry’s wifeAyesha’s cooking. She’s a pretty amazing cook — she’s got a YouTube channel for it — so it’s nice to get home cooking over there.


At this point, Thompson and I talked about the fact that we both grew up in Portland, Oregon. Even though he’s a decade younger than me, Thompson knew all about the stars of the ’90s Oregon prep scene — guys like Brandon Brooks, who’d made me look like my feet were made of concrete in pickup games at Fernwood Middle School. Here was another realization about Thompson: He is the classic hoops head. I’ve met pro players who love the game, but don’t follow it, but Thompson could reference Oregon state championship teams from when he was 8 years old. Not just who the best teams were, but how they played.

I think one of the things about the Warriors that excites people is that we really view you like a college team: People who are really together for basketball first. 

Yeah, we’re not really co-workers — we get along. We have no egos on the team. We’re a bunch of guys who really enjoy coming to work every day and playing ball.

Do you guys talk like, “We have something good here. Let’s keep it together?” 

We talk, but a lot of it is unspoken, we know we like each other, we know we like playing together. But we also know it’s not up to us. It’s up to the front office, so we really have to just enjoy every day because your team will change every year. I looked at Steph the other day and told him that he was the only guy left from my first training camp. There’s a lot of turnover in the NBA… but at the same time, you make so many good friends around the league.

So I have to ask, how often are you watching the 37-point quarter boiled down to two minutes that the NBA put together? 

I’m not gonna lie: I’ve seen it a lot. It just kinda shows that I still have the potential to get in that type of zone. I never thought I’d hold an NBA record, so to have one so early in my career is amazing. You never know, hopefully I can get 40 in a quarter — that sounds pretty crazy… but I never thought I’d get 37, either.

That kind of zone, what’s the feel in your head at the time. Are you like, “This shit is happening right now. This is real?”

You really don’t think about it. You know you’ve got a great rhythm and made some good shots — even though you don’t know how many it is. But the next ball you shoot always feels like it’s gonna go in. That’s what it felt like: I was going to shoot until I missed, and I was lucky I didn’t miss that quarter. It was one of those days.

Is there a guy in the league where, you see the schedule and kind of roll your eyes because you’d rather not have them guarding you?

Not really. I try to embrace every challenge — especially when the playoffs hit because you know you’re going to see the best wing defender for every team. Guys like Tony Allen and Iman Shumpert, they’re really pests on the defensive end, so you just have to play your game, move a lot, be confident, and then talent and hard work take care of the rest.


Here, T.K. broke in to ask Thompson a few specifics about the cut and addressed his star client’s evolving style. “When he came in, I’d seen him on TV and he had a pretty basic cut… now he’s ready for the grown man cut, with the tapers and the facial hair.”

Thompson laughed at this, but it served as another reminder of the fact that these superstars who we idolize are just in the midst of becoming grown men. In some ways, they have more responsibility than the average 25-year-old, and their mistakes certainly play out on a bigger stage, but in other ways, they’re still kids — figuring out the best cut to fit their features, eating Subway sandwiches, geeking out on the sport that they just happen to be extremely well paid to play.

This shouldn’t feel surprising, but it kind of does, because for so many of us, being 25 is also about being flat broke. There’s this part of you that thinks that not having to worry about money would make someone grow up quicker, in a way, and it’s refreshing to know it’s not true. Every time some star messes up, TV commentators talk about how they have to “grow up quick.” But maybe that’s impossible. Maybe they’re asked to grow up quick but the reality is, they’re growing up at their natural pace. Maybe it’s just not something that can be forced. Which is perhaps why so many interviewers are amazed at just how “ordinary” someone with Thompson’s level of insane talent seems.

What would you tell your 12-year-old self right now, with this fanfare around your deal with HUE, and a production like this? Would you be totally blown away? 

I would be… but I also feel like if you ask any NBA player, they all thought they were going to make the league as kids. It’s a weird feeling that’s hard to explain, but I just always wanted to play professional sports. If I was 12, I’d tell myself — shoot — “embrace being young while you have no responsibilities and keep working on your game.”

What about the fame part? Does the fame start feeling weird when you go to a meal and people come up or there are people waiting for autographs outside the hotel? 

A little bit… it gets weird knowing that you get recognized, but you have to embrace it and appreciate it. Our fans just want to show love and we really appreciate them for that. I was once that fan, all the way through college, so I knew what it was like to go up to one of my favorite athletes. The first impression lets you know a lot about whether you’re gonna keep liking that player or not. It might not be fair, but that’s how it is when you’re a kid.

It helps being around my dad, too, because I’ve never seen him be mean to a fan. That had a big impact on me.

How did this partnership with HUE come about, where did that start? Are these opportunities coming around more and more? 

T.K. introduced me to the pomade and I started using it, then Jermaine O’Neal got in contact with the owners of the company and he thought it’d be a good partnership. I don’t look at myself as a male model or anything, but I thought it’d be fun to broaden my horizons, so I thought, “Why not add HUE to my brand?”

It’s already something I’m using on a daily basis, so it’s a great partnership for me and I’m really excited about it.

As the afternoon wore on and Thompson transitioned from cut, to shave, to photos, to contract signing, I realized more and more how “regular” he is. In a good way, in the sense that it’s awesome to be young and figuring out the world, and he seems to be doing exactly that with very little ego. That was the person I met — a man who makes a hell of a lot of money and has fans around the world and is really, really, really good at the sport he loves; but also a guy whose eyes lit up when he talked about his unsuccessful spearfishing trip, or when he walked into a room with a Subway sandwich waiting for him. He’s a big enough star that his autograph can make someone money, but also a kind enough person that you feel like you might, in a different world, become pals with.

That’s the type of guy I can root for… and I will.

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