Former Pepperdine University basketball star Mychel Thompson has earned a spot on the Cleveland Cavaliers as an undrafted free agent, a press release from the university said. Thompson is the 17th Wave to play in the NBA.
A two-time All-West Coast Conference honorable mention selection, Thompson finished his four seasons 14th on the all-time Pepperdine scoring list, scoring 1,413 points between 2008 and 2011. He finished fourth in both career three-pointers made (192) and steals (145) in school history.
Thompson averaged a career-high 14.6 points per game in his final season with the Waves, good for second on the team, to go with a team-leading 5.6 rebounds per game. He improved his scoring average each season, going from 8.1 points per game to 9.6 to 11.8 to 14.6.
“Mychel means everything to this team,” Waves guard Keion Bell told The Malibu Times earlier this year. “He rebounds, defends and blocks shots. He does a lot more than just score. Even if his jumper is off, and he is not scoring, he is doing everything else.”
“He’s doing pretty good,” Cavaliers coach Byron Scott told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer of Thompson during training camp. “He’s a solid basketball player. He doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. He just does what he knows he can do. He’s pretty good on the defensive end.”
Thompson’s father is two-time NBA champ and former Los Angeles Laker Mychal Thompson. Mychal was the first-overall selection in the 1978 NBA draft and also played for the Portland Trailblazers, the San Antonio Spurs and an Italian team. Mychel’s brother is Klay Thompson, who played basketball for the Washington State Cougars before being drafted by the Golden State Warriors. The youngest Thomas brother, Trayce, started out playing basketball but later turned to baseball and was drafted in 2009 by the Chicago White Sox as a second-round draft pick.
“Basketball is a game that is in our family, that we all love,” Pepperdine’s Thompson told The Malibu Times earlier this year.
So far in the regular season, the Cavaliers are 1-1, with a 96-104 opening loss to the Toronto Raptors and a 105-89 victory over the Detroit Pistons. Come Jan. 17, it will be Thomson vs. Thompson as the Cavs take on the Warriors in Cleveland.