Though he was playing close to home, NBA veteran Tristan Thompson wasn’t feeling the love from the crowd in Toronto on Wednesday night.
Thompson, who is from Brampton and is playing in his 13th NBA season (meaning he should probably know better), threw down a dunk with 4.1 seconds left in Cleveland’s emphatic 131-108 win over the Raptors. That goes against the NBA’s code, which is why Scottie Barnes, Jamal Shead and Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic exchanged words with Thompson at the buzzer.
After some jawing, cooler heads prevailed. But afterward, Rajakovic didn’t mince words.
“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful. I’m not gonna stand for that, for sure,” Rajakovic said. “I’m really glad that our guys, our players from Jamal, he was on the court, and Scottie and everybody else, they stood up for themselves. I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was no class.”
Even Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson was surprised by the move.
“Tristan, I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Atkinson said. “Sometimes, though, you’re playing the game and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there’s no bad intention there. I think just sometimes you’re playing and the goal of the game is to score. Unfortunate.”
Cavaliers all-star Donovan Mitchell could be seen holding his head in disbelief after Thompson’s dunk as the crowd booed loudly.
Thompson, a long-time member of the Canadian national team, is no stranger to drama due to his association with the Kardashian family.