LOS ANGELES — Boys, as many parents are equipped to recognize, can be knuckleheads. And so when Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson, who led a life of privilege growing up, decided a couple of seasons ago that he was going to be the tough guy, shoving Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert from behind during a kerfuffle between the teams, his father instantly recognized it.

“I was like, ‘You idiot,’ ” Mychal Thompson said.

Mychal Thompson, who played 12 seasons in the NBA, including eight with the Portland Trail Blazers from 1978-1986, recorded the scuffle so that when his wife, Julie, came home, he could tell her, “Sit down and watch your dumb son.”

It was the type of what-were-you-thinking reaction that just about any father would have — especially when he found out his son would be docked $35,000. But there was a difference: Mychal Thompson had a microphone in front of him.

For nearly two decades, Thompson has carved out a broadcasting career in Los Angeles as a sports radio personality and an analyst on the Lakers’ radio broadcasts, where he is an unabashed supplicant of all things Purple and Gold — especially Kobe Bryant — and a proud but demanding father.

Those pillars of Thompson’s on-air character have led to some comedic tension of late.

As the Lakers deteriorate into one of the NBA’s worst teams, Klay Thompson, 24, has cemented his standing as one of the league’s elite players by signing a four-year, $70 million extension with Golden State. This has left his father with mixed emotions: pride for Klay’s ascent but resignation that he is unlikely to play for the Lakers any time soon.

“That’s my dream,” Mychal Thompson said. “I don’t think it’s his, because he’s in a dream situation right now with the Warriors. He’s got a great organization, great teammates, city, everything is perfect for him — he’s in a great situation. So he’s not thinking about that, but I never stop thinking about it.”

Thompson’s radio partner, John Ireland, the Lakers’ play-by-play announcer, said, “I think Mychal’s trying to will it to be.”

Thompson, who carries an island lilt from growing up in the Bahamas, had the rare chance to see his son play in person Sunday night, as he watched from his perch at Staples Center, calling the Warriors’ 136-115 walloping of the Lakers, in which Klay scored 18 points.

Watching it unfold elsewhere in the building were Julie and the Thompsons’ son Trayce, 23, an outfielder in the Chicago White Sox’ minor league system, who attended the game with two of Klay’s high school friends. Another son, Mychel, 26, is with the Warriors’ Development League team.

Julie Thompson, with a roll of her eyes, insisted that her husband treated her boys no differently from when he talked about them on the air. The boys shrugged.

“He says what he feels,” Klay Thompson said. “There’s no changing him.”

The benefits of having a father who played professionally were evident Sunday night, as Klay Thompson was one of four players on the court whose fathers had NBA careers — along with his Warriors teammate Stephen Curry and the Lakers’ Ed Davis and Bryant.

For Klay Thompson, more than genetics were bequeathed; he has someone in his corner who understands what it takes to fulfill his potential. Klay and Mychal Thompson text each other and talk almost daily, and when Klay finished his pregame workout Sunday, he climbed the stairs to his father’s radio perch to have a 10-minute chat.

“He’s my biggest believer,” said Klay, whose agent, Bill Duffy, played with Mychal at the University of Minnesota. “He’s always told me since I was about 17 that I could make the NBA if I just stayed humble and worked hard. He won’t cupcake around if I’m not doing something right. He’s one of the most blunt people you’ll ever meet — he’ll tell you like it is.”

When Thompson scored a then-career-high 38 points last season against the Lakers, Ireland, the play-by-play announcer, suggested late in the game that his partner must be proud. To which Mychal replied: Klay should have more than one assist.

“He is ridiculously, over-the-top critical of Klay,” Ireland said. “His wife is texting him during the game saying, ‘Be nicer.’ ”

That demanding manner, even in broadcasts, extends away from the court. When Klay was cited for possession of marijuana at Washington State, Mychal spoke candidly for about two hours on his radio show about how disappointed he was with his son, how his NBA stock might be hurt and about how he and his wife had parented their children.

He also reminds his boys not to go searching for a girlfriend in nightclubs. And to choose friends wisely.

As for the influence her husband might have on her sons, Julie is not so sure.

“That’s to be determined,” she said. “Mychal has tried to lead by example, but they don’t listen. He’s so unassuming in some ways that I don’t think they realize he’s been around this for a long time. I keep going, ‘Why don’t you say the opposite and maybe it will work?’ ”

In some ways, Luke Walton, a Warriors assistant coach, can relate. Most of his professional career with the Lakers came while his father, Bill, was a provocative television analyst. Like Mychal Thompson, Bill Walton was another former No. 1 overall pick for Portland who held himself — and others — to a high standard.

“It was frustrating at times when he would say crazy things about my teammates that made the locker room a little bit uncomfortable,” said Luke Walton, whose father succeeded in drawing the ire of Shaquille O’Neal. “But most of the time it was entertaining.”

As it was with Walton, it is not easy for casual listeners of Thompson to discern the carrot from the shtick. When he was berating his son on the air for the skirmish with the Pacers, Mychal said he was going to cut Klay’s allowance and proceeded to explain how much he allowed for rent and running-around money. If Klay wanted to take a girl out, a deli with a bottle of grocery store wine should do.

“It was a joke,” said Klay, whose finances are handled by a money manager. “But it made for a good story.”

Indeed, it made Mychal something of a blogosphere hero for the get-off-my-lawn set.

“I screamed at him over that,” Julie said. “I always tell him, don’t do that. He used to tell guys on the Lakers, ‘Oh, yeah, I used to catch barracudas and sharks.’ I say why do you do that? He says: ‘Well, if they’re dumb enough to believe me.’ ”

Mychal insists his affinity for the Lakers is no joke, not even now with the team’s record at 3-9 entering Friday’s games. He is certain that a franchise that moved shrewdly to assemble dynasties will find a way out of its current morass. It was an easier sell years ago, when Klay was indoctrinated into what he called the Laker way.

“I always talk to him about how special it was to be a Laker and how it means more than any other jersey you could put on because it says Lakers across the chest,” said Thompson, who played in the NBA Finals four times in his five seasons in Los Angeles. “He heard all those stories ad nauseam.”

Klay, though he worshipped Bryant growing up — he attended his summer camp at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and shot baskets with him at California, Irvine, when he was in high school — also recognizes he is in a much better position at Golden State. The Warriors considered sending him to Minnesota for Kevin Love over the summer, and there was a report that the Lakers were trying to land him in a three-way deal.

In the end, the Warriors showed their commitment with an extension that will pay him a team-high $17.5 million a year beginning next season. Mychal Thompson is proud of his son’s work ethic and steady improvement, but reminds him that he will be measured by what he does in the playoffs.

“I told him, with a contract extension like that comes a lot of responsibility,” Mychal Thompson said. “Now you have to prove to people that you’re underpaid. That means showing up every night and playing at the highest level. Now you have to prove that you’re worth that.”

Especially in the eyes of his sharpest critic and biggest fan.