Klay Thompson has grown up in front of the cameras. As a professional baller, he has had to learn some difficult lessons about keeping up his image, feeling his desire to affirm himself with materialism, and trying to maintain his finances.
A New Klay
In a resurfaced 2019 interview that has recently begun making the rounds again, the longtime NBA sharpshooter looked back on his early years in the league with a candor that feels especially pointed now, years removed from his first contract signed as a rookie in 2011 and deep into financial maturity.
“I had so many clothes it didn’t even make sense,” Thompson admitted during a sit-down with “Uninterrupted” six years ago.
Adding, “I would only wear about 5 percent of the closet. The rest was just sitting there.”
“When you first get paid, you think you need everything,” he said. “You think more is better. You think that’s what success looks like.” That mindset quickly translated into designer purchases, duplicate items, and closets packed for image rather than use.
At the time, Thompson didn’t see the problem.
“I wasn’t hurting anybody. I wasn’t going broke,” he said. “But I also wasn’t being smart.”
The realization came gradually, not through financial trouble, but through repetition. Wearing the same few outfits while dozens of untouched pieces gathered dust made the excess impossible to ignore.
Years later, Thompson’s tone is reflective rather than regretful.
“It taught me a lot,” he said. “It taught me that just because you can buy something doesn’t mean you should.”
Today, Thompson’s estimated net worth sits around $140 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, a figure built through NBA contracts, endorsements, and sustained relevance rather than impulsive spending. “Now I’d rather have a few really nice things than a hundred things I don’t care about,” he said.
And he has plenty he could spend if he wanted. His career earnings after 14 years in the league are $298,755,404.
During a period when he was first linked to Megan Thee Stallion, Thompson was gifted a luxury watch by the hip-hop star. The gift was reportedly a diamond-set Audemars Piguet Royal Oak watch, rumored to be worth around $300,000.
“A good watch lasts,” he said. “It’s not just something you throw on once for a photo. You live with it.” Unlike the clothes he barely wore early on, his watches are pieces he returns to regularly, collected with intention instead of impulse.
“That’s the kind of stuff you remember,” he said. “Not the random purchases.”
Professionally, Thompson is also navigating change. After more than a decade with the Golden State Warriors, he now plays for the Dallas Mavericks, entering a new phase of his career with a veteran’s clarity. “You start thinking long-term,” he said. “You think about life after basketball. You think about what actually matters.”
Looking back, Thompson doesn’t shy away from acknowledging his younger self.
“I had to learn,” he said plainly, “Everybody does.”
The clothes he never wore became a quiet reminder that wealth without intention quickly turns into clutter.
