Tristan Thompson defended himself a day after being called “classless” by Toronto Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic for a late-game incident Wednesday.
Thompson threw down a slam dunk with 4.1 seconds left in Cleveland’s blowout 131-108 win, which prompted rookie Raptors guard Jamal Shead, who was also on the court at the time, and franchise player Scottie Barnes, who was not, to have words with Thompson, a 13-year NBA veteran.
Rajakovic also joined in before elaborating when being asked about the incident at his post-game press conference.
“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.”
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Thompson said the Raptors brought it on themselves in a post on X on Thursday morning that also mocked the franchise for its obvious goal of tanking this season.
“You wanna full court press with under a minute left in the game when you get cracked by 30 this will happen to you,” Thompson wrote.
“Lose for draft lottery and be happy buddy boy. Hopefully you and most of your guys see the light at the end of Bobby and Masai long term plan. Bless up stay warm in MY CITY.”
Thompson, who is from Brampton, a part of the Greater Toronto Area but not Toronto proper, did not get much support from his fellow Canadians, who went at him on social media.
The Ringer’s Danny Chau even brought up an incident from seven years ago showing Thompson might not have kept up with his past stance on such incidents.
In that case, during his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Thompson took offence to Golden State Warriors guard Shaun Livingston hoisting a shot with his team up by eight with five seconds remaining of Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Thompson contested the shot and elbowed Livingston in the chest on the play, then threw the ball in the face of Draymond Green, who had been taunting him. Thompson was eventually hit with a US$25,000 fine from the NBA for that and “failing to leave the court in a timely manner.”
Thompson said afterward: “I contested a shot that shouldn’t have been taken. “I mean, it’s like the unspoken rule in the NBA: If you’re up 10 or 11 with about 20 seconds left, you don’t take that shot. I make the contest and, next thing I know, I was being kicked out for a good contest that we learn in training camp. I don’t know why I got thrown out.”
On Wednesday, even Thompson’s own coach, Kenny Atkinson, didn’t get why Thompson didn’t just run out the clock.
“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.
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