Like Father, Like Son

In appreciation of Father’s Day, we thought we’d talk about some father-son NBA families. There have been more than you think throughout the years, such as Kobe Bryant and his dad Joe Bryant, and the great Bill Walton and his son Luke Walton.

Everyone knows how great Kobe is, but most people don’t know that he inhereited his skills from his father, Joe. Joe Bryant played in the NBA for a couple years, but he spent most of his time overseas playing in Italy. This is where Kobe grew up, and we’re lucky that there wasn’t enough Italian influence to make him choose soccer over basketball.

The Splash Brothers, Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, are coming off an NBA title this year as a dominate pair of sharpshooters. While they aren’t actually brothers, they both have some family ties within the NBA. Steph’s dad, Dell, is most well known for the decade he spent playing for the Charlotte Hornets. In fact, he’s still their all time leader in 3 pointers made. Klay Thompson’s dad Mychal was also in the NBA at the same time that Dell Curry was. He was the #1 pick in the draft and won 2 NBA championships with Magic Johnson and the Lakers.

 

 

Luke Walton isn’t quite as famous as the other current NBA players listed above, but there were high hopes for him when he came into the league. His father was Bill Walton, one of the all time greatest college basketball players, and a Hall of Famer who played for the Portland Trailblazers. Unfortunately, Luke didn’t live up to his father’s legacy, and retired early to become an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors.

There is one unique father-son pairing where they are both on the same team, but not as players. Austin Rivers plays point guard for the LA Clippers, where his dad Doc Rivers is the coach. Doc Rivers was a pretty good player, but he really made his name as a coach and is considered one of the best in the game. Austin Rivers isn’t much of a player, and when the Clippers traded for him last year, it was thought that Doc was trying to save his son’s career.