{"id":321051,"date":"2025-12-02T18:41:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T18:41:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/321051\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T18:41:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T18:41:08","slug":"gophers-legend-mychal-thompson-mistaken-for-nba-hall-of-famer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/321051\/","title":{"rendered":"Gophers legend Mychal Thompson mistaken for NBA Hall of Famer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gophers legend Mychal Thompson and NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were both first overall picks coming out of college. They both played for the Lakers, and were teammates in Los Angeles from 1987 to 1991, winning a pair of NBA titles in that time.<\/p>\n

That’s about where the similarities stop. Well, that’s where they would end normally. Except for when a fan who posed for a picture with Thompson and posted it on TikTok thought she was standing next to Abdul-Jabaar at a recent Lakers game. <\/p>\n

In the post, the social media user is seen taking a photo with Thompson, whom she tagged as Abdul-Jabbar. Thompson saw the image, posting a screenshot to his X account with the caption, “WUT THE…? KAREEM?”<\/p>\n

WUT THE\u2026? KAREEM? pic.twitter.com\/rmEkZNbL4l<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Mychal Thompson (@champagnennuts) December 1, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n

Thompson had some fun with the confusion in the comments. Twitter user Michael Harvey<\/a> jokingly responded, “Weren’t you in the movie Airplane,” with Thompson responding, “I was…Academy award performance…”<\/p>\n

Social media user HearNFootsteps<\/a> responded to the post saying, “I was thinking a tall Rod Carew,” with Thompson saying, “Carew? Hey I’ll take THAT…Love Carew.” Evan Valenti said “At least she ‘legend right,” that had Thompson responding with, “Ahhhhh…TRUE.”<\/p>\n

Thompson starred for the Gophers from 1974 to 1978, earning two All-American nods during his junior and senior seasons. He led the Big Ten in scoring in 1976-77 and 77-78, averaging 22 points per game. His 1,992 career points rank second all-time in Gophers history, only trailing Voshon Lenard (2,103 points). <\/p>\n

After being taken No. 1 overall by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1978 draft, Thompson was named to the NBA All-Rookie team, averaging 14.7 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.8 blocks during the 1978-79 season. He played seven seasons for Portland before he was traded to San Antonio in the summer of 1986. Thompson played for the Spurs for just half a season before he was dealt to the Lakers in February 1987. <\/p>\n