Brampton, Ont., native Tristan Thompson didn’t make a lot of friends in his home province on Wednesday night.
The Cleveland Cavaliers big man capped off a 131-108 drubbing of the Toronto Raptors by punching down a dunk in the final moments. With four seconds to go and the shot clock off, the Canadian had no reason to go for the score and the local crowd let him know as much, immediately letting boos rain down inside Scotiabank Arena.
After the game, Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic didn’t mince words when asked about Thompson’s late-game antics.
“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful,” Rajakovic explained. “I’m not going to stand for that.”
Thompson, who is never one to shy away from the spotlight, had quite the response to Rajakovic’s criticism of the dunk.
“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 replied Thursday to a video of Rajakovic’s comments on X. “Lose for draft lottery and be happy buddy boy. Hopefully you and most of your guys see the light at the end of Bobby (Webster) and Masai (Ujiri) long term plan. Bless up stay warm in MY CITY.”
Thompson can try and justify the play all he wants, but the dunk even left his own head coach confused.
“I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after the game. “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.”
Thompson was originally drafted by the Cavaliers fourth overall in 2011, and at the time, he was the first Canadian to be a lottery selection in NBA history. The 33-year-old has represented Canada nationally on multiple occasions since his senior team debut in 2013.
The Cavaliers are in a much better spot than the 17-38 Raptors this season, as Cleveland sits atop the Eastern Conference with a 44-10 record.
But Thompson has not been a huge part of the Cavs rotation this season, averaging just 1.7 points and three rebounds a game over 7.8 minutes a night.
Unfortunately for all those hoping to see a rematch between Thompson and his hometown team, Wednesday’s game was the last matchup between the Raptors and Cavaliers this season.
Unless the Raptors make a late charge for the play-in tournament, Thompson’s return to Scotiabank Arena will have to wait.