Klay Thompson of the Golden State Warriors has been having a strong season lately, as he has been starting to look like his old self after suffering a torn ACL in 2019 and a torn Achilles in late 2020.
As the son of former NBA big man Mychal Thompson, who played several seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers and won two championships with them in 1987 and 1988, he grew up in Southern California and attended Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Orange County.
While there, he was teammates with Gavin Escobar, who was also a standout tight end in football.
Escobar ended up choosing football over basketball, and he went on to play at San Diego State University and for the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys.
Last September, he died in a rock climbing incident, and the younger Thompson honored his memory when his Warriors visited Texas to play the Dallas Mavericks.
Klay honored his late friend Gavin Escobar by arriving to tonight's game in his jersey pic.twitter.com/LIDQRPV7my
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) March 22, 2023
Escobar wasn’t a big NFL star, as he collected just 333 yards and eight touchdowns in 64 career games over four seasons.
But there is something to be said about the lifelong bonds people create with their friends in high school.
Many NBA and NFL players are very community-oriented, and although they end up playing for teams that could be a world away from their hometown, they never forget their original roots and the people who they share those roots with.
The younger Thompson has been luckier than most, as he has been able to play his entire NBA career in the same state he grew up in, just several hours away from the greater Los Angeles area.
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