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Mychal Thompson



Position: Center, Power Forward
Full Name: Mychal George Thompson
Nickname:
Born: January 30, 1955 in Nassau, The Bahamas
Height: 6-10
Weight: 226
High School: Jackson in Miami, Florida
College: University of Minnesota
Drafted: 1st Round, 1st Pick - Portland Trail Blazers, 1978
Jersey#: 43,55

Played for the Lakers from 1987 to 1991


Thompson was born in the Bahamas, but moved to the United States as a youth, playing high school ball in Miami, Florida. He then attended the University of Minnesota where he had an impressive collegiate career; impressive enough that the Portland Trail Blazers made him the number one pick in the 1978 NBA Draft, the first foreign-born player to be selected at that position.

When he was a student at the University of Minnesota, Thompson dreamed of playing for the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers would probably have been willing to give the 6-foot-10-inch center-forward a try, too, but there was just one problem: Thompson and the Lakers were too good for each other. By the time the high-ranked Lakers got a turn in the 1978 draft, Thompson was long gone.

Thompson was a fixture in the Portland lineup for eight years (though one season was missed due to injury), where he started at both power forward and center positions (depending on other personnel). He was named to the 1979 All-Rookie team, and had his statistically best season in 1981-1982, where he averaged over 20 points and 11 rebounds per game. In the 1986 off-season, Thompson was traded to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for center/forward Steve Johnson.

Thompson played with the Spurs for over half a season, before he was traded again, this time to the Los Angeles Lakers. In return, the Spurs received Frank Brickowski and Petur Gudmundsson, two draft choices and an undisclosed amount of cash. He was brought to the Lakers on February 13, 1987 to defend Celtics forward Kevin McHale whom he played great defense against, and to backup Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Thompson helped the Lakers win consecutive titles in 1987 and 1988. He retired in 1991.

Thompson has long been known as a loquacious personality and as an excellent interview, who was once described as basketball's answer to Bob Uecker. He once remarked that he intended someday to return to his homeland to serve as prime minister. While Thompson appears to have no such political ambitions, he currently serves (along with Rick Fox, a Canadian with Bahamian ancestry) as Sports Ambassador to the Bahamas. Thompson today is the radio analyst for the Lakers, in addition to hosting the Loose Cannons talk show on KLAC radio in Los Angeles. He has also worked as a broadcaster for the Trail Blazers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Vancouver Grizzlies, and Seattle SuperSonics.



Regular Season Stats


YEAR TEAM G MIN FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT 3PM 3PA PCT REB RPG AST PF STL TO BLK PTS PPG
1979 POR 73 2144 460 938 .490 154 269 .572 0 0 - 604 8.3 176 270 67 205 134 1074 14.7
1981 POR 79 2790 569 1151 .494 207 323 .641 0 1 - 686 8.7 284 260 62 241 170 1345 17.0
1982 POR 79 3129 681 1303 .523 280 446 .628 0 0 - 921 11.7 319 233 69 245 107 1642 20.8
1983 POR 80 3017 505 1033 .489 249 401 .621 0 1 - 753 9.4 380 213 68 281 110 1259 15.7
1984 POR 79 2648 487 929 .524 266 399 .667 0 2 - 688 8.7 308 237 84 235 108 1240 15.7
1985 POR 79 2616 572 1111 .515 307 449 .684 0 0 - 618 7.8 205 216 78 231 104 1451 18.4
1986 POR 82 2569 503 1011 .498 198 309 .641 0 0 - 608 7.4 176 267 76 196 35 1204 14.7
1987 SAS 49 1210 230 528 .436 144 196 .735 1 1 1.000 276 5.6 87 117 31 77 41 605 12.3
1987 TOT 82 1890 359 797 .450 219 297 .737 1 2 .500 412 5.0 115 202 45 134 71 938 11.4
1987 LAL 33 680 129 269 .480 75 101 .743 0 1 - 136 4.1 28 85 14 57 30 333 10.1
1988 LAL 80 2007 370 722 .512 185 292 .634 0 3 - 489 6.1 66 251 38 113 79 925 11.6
1989 LAL 80 1994 291 521 .559 156 230 .678 0 1 - 467 5.8 48 224 58 97 59 738 9.2
1990 LAL 70 1883 281 562 .500 144 204 .706 0 0 - 477 6.8 43 207 33 79 73 706 10.1
1991 LAL 72 1077 113 228 .496 62 88 .705 0 2 - 228 3.2 21 112 23 47 23 288 4.0
CAREER 935 27764 5191 10306 .504 2427 3707 .655 1 12 .083 6951 7.4 2141 2692 701 2104 1073 12810 13.7


Playoff Stats


YEAR TEAM G MIN FGM FGA PCT FTM FTA PCT 3PM 3PA PCT REB RPG AST PF STL TO BLK PTS PPG
1979 POR 3 121 27 54 .500 5 10 .500 0 0 - 31 10.3 6 11 2 0 5 59 19.7
1981 POR 3 132 31 51 .608 13 18 .722 0 0 - 23 7.7 4 10 3 7 9 75 25.0
1983 POR 7 284 40 85 .471 25 38 .658 0 0 - 56 8.0 39 24 6 28 8 105 15.0
1984 POR 4 121 22 44 .500 17 22 .773 0 0 - 29 7.3 15 11 5 6 3 61 15.3
1985 POR 9 250 50 102 .490 33 49 .673 0 0 - 72 8.0 14 32 7 19 12 133 14.8
1986 POR 4 140 31 54 .574 14 26 .538 0 0 - 33 8.3 14 13 1 10 3 76 19.0
1987 LAL 18 401 62 137 .453 34 50 .680 0 0 - 88 4.9 9 50 7 16 17 158 8.8
1988 LAL 24 615 98 191 .513 36 62 .581 0 0 - 170 7.1 12 70 17 33 21 232 9.7
1989 LAL 15 377 65 128 .508 41 60 .683 0 0 - 77 5.1 11 52 6 14 12 171 11.4
1990 LAL 9 225 21 44 .477 16 26 .615 0 0 - 39 4.3 2 26 2 17 13 58 6.4
1991 LAL 8 42 2 7 .286 0 0 - 0 0 - 9 1.1 0 10 0 1 3 4 0.5
CAREER 104 2708 449 897 .501 234 361 .648 0 0 - 627 6.0 126 309 56 151 106 1132 10.9