DALLAS — Mychel Thompson was a four-year participant at Pepperdine who began 114 video games from 2007-11. Early in his school profession, the Waves tried recruiting his youthful brother.
Klay, the Thompson household’s center baby, took an official go to to campus in Malibu, Calif. In an try to get him to commit, Pepperdine referred to as in one of many metropolis’s well-known residents: Reggie Miller.
Miller’s highlights had been important in Thompson’s basketball schooling. Thompson admired Miller’s panache in necessary moments as a lot as his outdoors taking pictures capacity.
The spotlight of Thompson’s go to was a ping-pong match towards Miller.
“He skunked me 7-0,” Thompson instructed The Athletic. “To see that aggressive aspect of him — I used to be 17 — it was actually cool.”
On Wednesday, Thompson handed Miller on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers made checklist. Thompson’s 2,562 3-point makes are the fifth-most in league historical past. Steph Curry, Thompson’s former Warriors teammate, sits atop that checklist. James Harden, Ray Allen and Damian Lillard rank second, third and fourth, respectively.
The three-pointer that moved Thompson forward of Miller got here on the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter. The Dallas Mavericks, who misplaced Luka Dončić to a left calf pressure within the first half, sliced the Timberwolves’ 28-point lead down to 2 factors however had been unable to finish the comeback.
Klay Thompson passes Reggie Miller for fifth all-time in 3-pointers made! 👏
2,561 and counting… pic.twitter.com/Q3HOyNaFSm
— NBA (@NBA) December 25, 2024
Thompson scored 12 factors within the 105-99 loss. All of his baskets had been 3s.
Passing Miller was so vital, Thompson hung onto the Christmas Day sport ball. He additionally mentioned he deliberate to ship Miller his signed jersey.
Thompson wore No. 11 with the Warriors. After a sign-and-trade despatched him from California to Texas final summer season, Thompson switched to No. 31 in tribute, the identical quantity Miller wore in his 18 seasons with the Indiana Pacers.
“I cherished Reggie Miller rising up,” Thompson mentioned. “I watched his movie and game-winners my complete life. He’s at all times impressed me to shoot the ball and be a killer. It’s simply surreal. Discuss instances I prayed for. I prayed for instances like that.”
GO DEEPER
Klay Thompson passes Reggie Miller for fifth place on all-time 3s made checklist
Miller’s game-winner towards the Chicago Bulls within the 1998 Jap Convention finals is likely one of the highlights burned into Thompson’s reminiscence. Miller famously collided with Michael Jordan, which gave him the required area to stand up for the shot that leveled the sequence at two video games apiece.
Mavericks coach Jason Kidd skilled a number of Miller clutch moments first-hand. In Kidd’s Phoenix Suns tenure, Miller made a game-winning jumper from the precise baseline over him.
Later, when Kidd was with the New Jersey Nets, Miller banked in a 39-foot fadeway on the buzzer to ship the sport into time beyond regulation. Video proof confirmed the ball was nonetheless in Miller’s hand when time expired. Officers counted it anyway.
“If we had immediate replay that sport, it could have been over,” Kidd lamented on Wednesday.
Over the previous two weeks, Thompson has proven indicators of wanting snug in his new environment. He scored a season-high 29 factors in Dallas’ Dec. 15 win towards Golden State. Thompson adopted that up with a 22-point sport two nights later towards the LA Clippers.
With Dončić anticipated to overlook a number of video games with the calf harm, the Mavericks will probably be much more depending on Thompson’s scoring. He scored his last basket of Wednesday’s sport with 1:05 remaining — a quick-trigger 3 from straight on received the Timberwolves’ lead down to 3 factors.
Kyrie Irving had a go-ahead alternative within the last minute, however he missed.
Irving mentioned he congratulated Thompson within the locker room afterward for rising within the 3-point document books.
“And in addition instructed him he ought to have been fifth a very long time in the past,” Irving mentioned.
A torn ACL and a torn Achilles price Thompson two of his prime years. The 34-year-old nonetheless likes to compete. He lingered on the courtroom for almost quarter-hour after Dallas beat Golden State in San Francisco earlier this month.
As a child, Miller’s will to win resonated with Thompson. Miller by no means shied away from the second, quite a bit like Thompson, who has been one of the crucial clutch gamers of his personal era.
“That’s the most inspiring factor to see as a shooter,” Thompson mentioned. “He had no worry, whether or not he made or missed the shot. He was going to die by it.”
(Photograph: Ron Jenkins / Getty Pictures)
