Tristian Thompson broke an unwritten basketball rule against the Toronto Raptors.
The Cleveland Cavaliers were blowing out the Raptors and had possession with the game clock about to expire. Instead of just dribbling out the clock, Thompson decided to dunk the ball with 4 seconds left.
Thompson’s dunk did not sit well with the Raptors, as rookie Jamal Shead and Scottie Barnes immediately confronted the Brampton native as the buzzer sounded. Coaches, players and referees had to keep Thompson, Shead and Barnes apart as Raptors fans let out a chorus of boos:
Absolute tacky act by the veteran and Brampton’s own Tristan Thompson.
He pulled a Lance Stephenson and the entire Toronto Raptors let him know.
Veteran looking like a rookie. 🤦♂️ pic.twitter.com/TdznD9977u
— Omer Osman (@OmerOsman200) February 13, 2025
“I think what Tristan [Thompson] did there was no class and disrespectful,” Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic said postgame, via the Toronto Star. “I’m not gonna stand for that, for sure. 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.”
Thompson is a 14-year veteran and a former NBA Champion who’s represented Team Canada on the world basketball stage many times. It was surprising to see him act like this, especially in his hometown.
Thompson only played for 3 minutes, all in garbage time and finished with 4 points on 2-for-4 shooting.
“What he did at the end of the game was just a little bit disrespectful to the game of basketball, not just us,” said Shead via Yahoo News Canada. “We had a couple of choice words. We’re adults, we’ll move on from it.”
The Raptors won’t see Thompson and the Cavaliers again this season since this was the fourth and final regular season meeting between the two teams.
Thompson lost a lot of respect from Raptors coaches, players and fans everywhere.
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