Klay Thompson shocked by this Miami Heat player's work ethic

New faces continue to pop up in those Miami Heat threads as this off-season pushes on.

Starting off with the additions of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis in that blockbuster trade, before grabbing Tim Hardaway Jr to complement with some shooting, and now the late off-season move to bring in Klay Thompson.

But the new names aren't the only storylines before media day and training camp.

Guys like Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, and Bam Adebayo have been getting after it in off-season workouts for weeks and weeks all over social media, while Nikola Jovic and Simone Fontecchio have been busy with camps and games over in EuroBasket playing for Serbia and Italy respectively.

Yet there's another name that's doing a mix of both of those things over the last few months, and his name is Pelle Larsson.

Larsson is the lead man for Sweden as they kick off their qualifiers tomorrow at 11:30 AM, as a lot of his focus has been on mastering that role, which actually aligns with his upcoming bench role for Miami this season.

But Klay Thompson's most interesting comment a day ago had nothing to do with his own role or anything personal. The actual biggest takeaway was his outsider view of Larsson's work ethic.

Shoutout Pelle Larsson 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/tyUPHuYSrL
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) August 26, 2026

"I saw Pelle in Spain," Thompson said at his introductory press conference. "To see his work ethic, I didn't know I was going to be his teammate, but I was really impressed with how much time he spent in the gym everyday. I was like that does seem like a Miami guy."

That's a very big compliment that not just people inside the Kaseya Center are recognizing the work Larsson has been putting in since his rookie season.

He's continued to improve and climb that ladder for this Heat team, and there's yet to be a larger step than the one coming this season.

For starters, Larsson is the type of player built to play on a contending and winning team. He does the little things, plays on both sides of the ball, and can simply do many different things well.

His usage is prepared to rise with the incoming role off the bench, where his on-ball physical drives and free throw rate will lead the way for his offensive production.

He doesn’t flop

He just bulldozes defenders downhill and puts a shoulder into you at that dotted line or below to force the contact

Reminds me of Jimmy https://t.co/5O5ERVOkIW
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) August 18, 2026

That outside jumper will be crucial for his minutes, especially closing time, next to Giannis Antetokounmpo, but there's nothing mechanically about his three ball that leads me to believe he can't be a reliable shooter for this squad.

Pelle Larsson is a guy you love to have in your locker room, and hate playing against.

It's fair to say, Thompson and the other new faces are going to quickly find out it's good to have this guy on their side now.

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