Thompsons stay together even when apart

Thompsons stay together even when apart

LOS ANGELES They are as bound as the double knots in their sneakers, calling and texting each other every day in the tiny timeouts of their fastbreak lives.

They're thisclose despite the long distance relationship, following each other's latest college hardwood shots, Class A ballpark swings, Lakers radio shoutouts and Ladera Ranch homefront happenings.

They're as tight as the short shorts that father 6 foot 9 Mychal Thompson used to wear during his 12 NBA seasons that were highlighted by the Laker years (1987 1991) and the Showtime championships of 1987 and 1988.

But this Thanksgiving will be another occasion when sporting lives and team schedules keep the Thompson family of exceptional athletes apart.

Oldest son, Mychel, 22, a 6 foot 7, 210 pound senior forward for Pepperdine, has basketball practice Thursday morning. Then he plans to drive home to Ladera Ranch to have dinner for three with mother, Julie, and youngest brother, Trayce, 19, a sturdy 6 3, 200 pound outfielder and 2009 Chicago White Sox second round draft selection who is back after his first full minor league baseball season.

Father Mychal, 55, who is in his eighth season as the Lakers' radio color commentator, will be on the road with the two time defending NBA champions who play the Utah Jazz in Salt Lake City on Friday. Middle son, Klay, 20, a 6 6, 202 pound All Pac 10 junior guard at Washington State and the leading returning scoring in the conference, has practice in Pullman, Wash., and a Friday game at Fresno State.

Julie and Trayce will make the long drive north to be in the stands, cheering in the stands "so my mom won't have to yell at the TV," Trayce said while laughing. Mychal and Mychel will be following the game on the Internet, tracking the play by play of the Cougars' leading scorer online.

"We're as normal as any other family but our boys just happen to have special opportunities to play college basketball or pro baseball right now," said Mychal, 55, from his radio row perch at Staples Center before a recent Lakers game. "It's a privilege and something that I tell them never to take for granted because we are blessed that they get to pursue their dreams."

Julie remembers when her boys were "my little bear cubs." They waged nightly "WWE Smackdown" wrestling matches in their bedrooms, dressed up as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles for Halloween, climbed on their dad as if he were a 6 9 oak and played Little League baseball together on the Lakeside Lumber in Portland, Ore., before the family moved to Ladera Ranch in 2004.

"Where's Mikey?" Julie would wonder after a Lakers game in 1990. Then she spot her 2 year old son running down to the Forum court to dribble his purple and gold mini basketball in front of his father.

"And he could already dribble with either hand!" recalled Mychal, smiling wider than a pebble grained Spalding, so proud of his three sons' natural athletic abilities.

"Where's dad?" the boys sometimes asked their mother who needed only cheap jerseys to find the Lakers game on TV or radio to explain Mychal's job. The curious boys once dug through garage boxes, discovered a pair of Kareem Abdul Jabbar's goggles, tried them on cheap nfl jerseys and started to see how much their father was a part wholesale jerseys of Lakers' history.

For healthy sons, for loving sons, for a close knit family, for sky's the limit sporting lives, the Thompsons give thanks.

They wish for more than a half dozen days a year together "We'll all be here for this Christmas, have a (Lakers) game that day, of course, and have a cheap nfl jerseys quick celebration so I'll have to remember to take a picture!" said Julie but they all accept the separation as necessary sacrifice for elite athletes striving to play at the next level.

"Julie and I were talking about how this is such a pivotal year for us, for our three boys who will need to prove themselves and make major decisions," said Mychal. "I told them 'It's time to get serious. Enjoy every day. Appreciate every day. It's wholesale nfl jerseys all about business and setting up the future.'"

The tone of Mychal's easy going voice stiffens when he speaks about how his sons "impact" year, especially Mychel and Klay's future in the NBA where the father hears things and knows people and understands the pressures and the politics.