Welcome back to the Deep Dive. It is Monday,
February 2nd, 2026. Today, we are opening a file
on a player whose career has, well, it's officially
spanned three different decades, which is a feat
in itself. But we aren't just looking at longevity
today. We are looking at a walking contradiction.
That's really the only way you can put it. I
mean, we're talking about an athlete who gets
nicknamed Iron Man, a guy who played, what was
it, 447 consecutive games, yet he ends his career.
or at least the tail end of it, with a suspension
for performance -enhancing drugs. Right, and
a player who was so disciplined, so meticulous,
that he switched his dominant shooting hand in
the middle of his NBA career. A mechanic almost
no one, and I mean no one, touches once they
turn pro. Yet at the same time, his personal
life became a synonym for, well, for chaos and
tabloid fodder. The stack of sources we have
today is, it's massive. We've got everything
from the early biographical data, you know, from
his days up in Brampton. We've got the advanced
analytics from his time with the Cavaliers, which
tell a really interesting story. And then you
have the court documents from the personal lawsuits
and, of course, the medical reports detailing
the suspension. It's a lot to unpack. So our
mission is to synthesize all of this. We really
want to understand how Tristan Thompson, who
was at the time the highest drafted Canadian
in NBA history, how he navigated a 13 plus year
career with a very, let's say, limited offensive
skill set. How does a guy who, for all intents
and purposes, can't shoot become indispensable?
How does he win a championship? earn hundreds
of millions of dollars and then just watch his
reputation take such a bizarre turn right at
the finish line. It's a fascinating case study
on value. I mean, what does the NBA truly value?
It's availability. Yeah. And then what is the
public value? That's narrative. And his career
is this collision between those two things. OK,
so let's get into it. Section one, the Brampton
origin. We are going all the way back to March
13th, 1991. Tristan Trevor James Thompson is
born in Brampton, Ontario. Now, for you listening
who might not be totally up on the geography
of hoops, Brampton today is known as a veritable
factory for basketball talent. It's a hotbed,
but in 1991... Not so much. Not at all. And that
context is so important. Canadian basketball
at that time, I mean, Brampton is churning out
talent now, right? But back in the late 90s,
early 2000s, the path to the NBA wasn't just,
you know, not paved. It was barely a dirt road.
Thompson was born to Jamaican parents, Trevor
and Andrea. He was the eldest of four sons. And
the athletic lineage was definitely there. His
younger brother, Deshaun, was also a highly rated
prospect coming up. So talent was in the blood.
But staying in Canada wasn't really a viable
option if you had dreams of being a lottery pick
back then, was it? You couldn't just play at
your local high school and expect, I don't know,
Duke or Kentucky to come knocking on your door
in Brampton? No, absolutely not. There was this
talent drain happening, a migration, really.
If you wanted the exposure, if you wanted to
play against the best, you had to go south. So
Thompson starts at St. Marguerite -Douville for
grades 9 and 10. But he and his family knew that
to get on the big stage, he needed more eyes
on him. which is why he transfers to St. Benedict's
Prep in Newark, New Jersey, for his sophomore
year. Wow. That is a culture shock. Going from
Brampton to Newark, that's not just jumping into
the deep end, that's jumping into the ocean.
It's a huge leap. But it was seen as necessary
for the competition. He actually went there with
another Canadian talent, Mambuk Kabongo, who
would later also go on to play at Texas with
him. And for a while, it worked perfectly. I
mean, Thompson's stock just soared. He shot up
the rankings. By the time he entered his junior
season, he wasn't just some good Canadian prospect.
He was being talked about as the top recruit
in the entire nation. The number one recruit
in the country. That is rarefied air. And that
brings us to a really, really critical moment
in his development, a personality indicator,
the Dan Hurley incident. Now, Dan Hurley is a
massive name in coaching now, right? Fresh off
those UConn championships. And he's known for
being, let's call it intense. Intense is, putting
it mildly, Dan Hurley demands absolute submission
to his system. He is fiery, he is loud, and he
is right in your face. There's no gray area.
It's Thompson's junior year. St. Benedict's is
playing Mater Dei. And you have to understand,
Mater Dei was the number one ranked team in the
country at the time. This is a heavyweight fight
on a national stage. So the lights are bright.
The pressure is on. Every scout is watching this
game. Everyone. And during a timeout, things
just go sideways. Hurley and Thompson get into
it. And this wasn't just a simple disagreement
about a play call, was it? Our sources describe
something more. Oh, no. This was way beyond that.
The reports describe a heated debate. Voices
were raised. It was a full -blown confrontation.
And, you know, usually a coach might bench a
player for a few minutes to cool off, send a
message. Hurley didn't bench him. What'd he do?
He kicked him off the court. Mid -game. In the
biggest game of the year. Mid -game. In front
of everyone. Thompson was removed from the team
right then and there. Done. That is such a high
-risk maneuver for a coach, kicking out the number
one recruit in the nation. But it also speaks
volumes about Thompson's personality. For better
or for worse, he clearly didn't back down. He
didn't. And that moment, it could have derailed
his whole career. A lot of kids would have crumbled
under that. Or, you know, they'd get labeled
uncoachable, and that tag can be a death sentence.
But instead, he transfers. He lands at Finley
Prep in Nevada. And this is where the narrative
shifts from trouble to winner. He teams up with
his childhood friend from Canada, Corey Joseph.
The Canadian connection. It stays strong through
his whole journey. It really does. And the redemption
arc was immediate. Under coach Michael Packett
Finley, he just flourished. He leads them to
their first ever national championship. And he
racks up the accolades. He becomes a McDonald's
All -American. And at that time, you have to
remember how big a deal that was for a Canadian.
He was only the fourth one ever to get that honor.
He was joining names like Bill Winnington and
Barry and Bickett. So it solidified that he was
the real deal. He wasn't just hype. He had the
substance to back it up. Exactly. And he was
also a Jordan brand classic All -American. Yeah.
He basically proved that the issue at St. Benedict's
might have been more about that specific environment
or that specific clash of two very strong personalities,
not a fundamental flaw in him as a player. OK,
so he's redeemed himself. He heads to the University
of Texas, Section 2. And this is interesting
because initially all the reports said he wasn't
planning to be a one and done player. Right.
He flat out told the media. After the NCAA tournament
that he planned to return for his sophomore year,
he said he wanted to develop his game more. But
the production during his freshman year was just
it was undeniable. He was named the big 12 freshman
of the year. He had 86 blocks, which was huge.
Led the team in rebounding double doubles. He
just looked like a pro already physically. So
what are the NBA scouts seeing at this point?
Because if you look back at the tape from Texas,
he's a bit undersized for a traditional center.
He's listed at six foot nine and he doesn't have
a jump shot to save his life. It's just not there.
No, it's not. But they saw a motor that was just
relentless, an engine that never stopped. They
saw a guy who could switch onto guards on the
perimeter and not get totally embarrassed, which
was becoming more and more important in the pick
-and -roll heavy NBA. And they saw his second
jump. The second jump? Explain that. It's his
superpower, really. It's the ability to land
after a rebound attempt or a block attempt and
get back up in the air faster than anyone else
around him. Thompson was truly elite at this.
It's how he compensated for being 6 '9". He was
like a pogo stick. So, despite all that talk
of staying in school, he declares for the 2011
draft, the pull of the league was too strong.
June 23, 2011. This turns out to be a historic
night for Canadian basketball. Absolutely. The
Cleveland Cavaliers, who had the first and fourth
picks, take Kyrie Irving first, and then they
take Tristan Thompson fourth overall. And before
Anthony Bennett, before Andrew Wiggins, Tristan
Thompson was the highest drafted Canadian player
ever. And to make it even sweeter, his buddy
Corey Joseph from Finley Prep went 29th to the
Spurs. So you've got two Canadians going in the
first round. Yeah, which was only the second
time that it ever happened. The first time was
way, way back in 1983. This was the moment that
really signaled the arrival of what people started
calling the golden generation of Canadian basketball
talent. Well, then right after this career high,
the whole league just shuts down, the 2011 lockout.
Right. And this is a key insight into his early
mindset, his professionalism. A lot of rookies
in that situation, you know, they might have
partied, bought a bunch of cars or just worked
out casually. The league was closed for business.
Thompson went back to Austin. Back to school.
Back to school. He enrolled in classes at the
University of Texas. He continued working towards
his degree while he was waiting for the owners
and players to figure things out. It showed a
level of maturity that the Cavs front office
absolutely loved. He was already treating his
career and his life like a professional. So the
lockout finally ends. He signs his rookie deal
in December. And that brings us to Section 3.
The technician. He gets into the league, has
a solid rookie year, makes the all -rookies second
team, but then... We have the statistic that
nearly killed his career before it really even
got started. The blot rate. This is wild to look
back on. In the 2012 -13 season, his second year
in the league, Tristan Thompson was getting his
shot blocked nearly 17 % of the time. Wait, wait.
17%. So you're saying almost one out of every
five shots he took was getting sent back into
his face. Yes. It was that bad. He was legitimately
threatening the all -time NBA record for highest
percentage of shots blocked, which was held by
a guy named Danny Fortson. Not a record you want.
So why was it happening? I mean, he's incredibly
athletic. He's strong. What was the issue? The
issue was that he was a lefty. But he was very,
very left -hand dominant. Predictable. He would
drive left. He'd turn over his left shoulder
in the post. And he would always try to finish
low with his left hand. NBA defenders, they figured
that out immediately. They would just sit on
his left hand, overplay it. He was completely
predictable. And at the NBA level, predictable
gets you erased at the rim. Okay, so he recognizes
this massive, almost fatal flaw in his game.
And he does something radical, something that
I still find hard to wrap my head around. The
great hand switch. It's one of the most incredible
in -career adjustments I can think of. Yeah.
In the offseason of 2013, he just decides, okay,
I am not a left -hand shooter anymore. I am a
righty. And let's be clear for everyone listening.
Players work on their offhand all the time, right?
You want to be able to finish with both hands
at the rim. But... Nobody just swaps their dominant
shooting hand three years into a professional
career. It's like a major league pitcher suddenly
deciding he's going to throw with his other arm.
It doesn't happen. It is completely unheard of.
It requires, I mean, on a neurological level,
you're rewiring your motor cortex. Muscle memory
is such a powerful thing. And he was trying to
overwrite 22 years of habit in a single summer.
But he did it. He switched his jump shot, his
hook shot, his free throws all to the right hand.
So the big question is, did it actually work?
Or was it just kind of a gimmick that looked
good on paper? Well, it kept him from infamy.
His block rate dropped from that nearly 17 %
down to about 15%. So a 2 % improvement? That
doesn't sound like a huge leap. It sounds small,
but in the NBA, those margins are everything.
It kept him away from that Danny Fortson record.
And look, it didn't magically make him a sharpshooter.
He was still a pretty awkward scorer, let's be
honest. Yeah. But it made him functional. More
importantly, it showed... The coaching staff
and the front office that he was willing to humble
himself and do whatever it took, no matter how
drastic, to stay on the floor and be effective.
And staying on the floor, that became his brand.
This is really where the whole Ironman persona
begins to take shape, isn't it? Exactly. It's
built right here. In the 2012, 13 and 2013, 14
seasons, he started all 82 games both years.
He wasn't just showing up. He was producing.
In that 2012 -13 season, the same year he was
getting blocked so much, he also set the Cavaliers
franchise record for offensive rebounds with
.306. That's a massive number. Who did he pass
for that record? He passed Zydrunasil Gelskas,
a franchise legend. He was fifth in the entire
NBA in offensive boards that year. He essentially
realized, OK, I can't shoot like Kevin Love.
I don't have post moves like Al Jefferson. So
my value is going to be getting the ball back
for the guys who can. He monetized pure effort.
And just like that, Tristan Thompson's entire
world changes. He goes from being a cornerstone
starter on a young developing team to the bunch.
He gets demoted, just flat out. He becomes the
energy guy off the bench, backing up Kevin Love
and, initially, Anderson Varejao. How did he
handle that? Because most guys who just started
82 games two years in a row would be pouting.
There would be trade requests. He handled it
like a true professional. He understood the hierarchy
immediately. LeBron was the sun and everyone
else was a planet in orbit. He accepted his role.
But then fate intervened. It's the 2015 playoffs.
First round against the Boston Celtics. I remember
this. One of the most controversial plays in
recent playoff history. Kelly Olnick gets tangled
up with Kevin Love, yanks his arm, and dislocates
his shoulder. Love is out for the rest of the
playoffs. It was just a devastating blow for
Cleveland's title hopes. Everyone thought they
were done. But it opened a door. Yeah. Enter
Tristan Thompson. He steps right into that starting
lineup, and he becomes completely indispensable.
In that 2015 finals run against the Golden State
Warriors, he was averaging nearly 11 rebounds
a game. But it wasn't just the raw numbers. It
was his defensive versatility. This is what made
him so valuable. He was switching out onto Steph
Curry on the perimeter after a screen, and he
was holding his own. Which is insane for a center.
Usually when Steph Curry sees a center switched
onto him, it's barbecue chicken. It's an automatic
three points. It is. But Thompson had the lateral
quipness and the discipline to stay in front
of him. The Cavs ended up losing in six games
that year. But Thompson proved beyond a shadow
of a doubt that he was a championship caliber
center. He made himself essential. Which led
directly to the contract standoff of 2015. This
was a masterclass in leverage by him and his
agent, wasn't it? An absolute masterclass by
his agent, Rich Paul. Thompson was a restricted
free agent. The Cavs were completely capped out.
They had LeBron. They had Kyrie. They had just
re -signed Kevin Love. They could not replace
Tristan Thompson if he left. because they just
didn't have the cap space to go out and sign
another quality starting center. They were trapped.
So Thompson and his camp knew this, and they
held out. They held out hard. For four months,
it was a stalemate. He missed all of training
camp. He missed the entire preseason. He even
skipped playing for Team Canada in the FIBA Americas
tournament, which you know he loves to do. He
was risking game checks to make his point. He
bet on himself. And the narrative at the time,
at least among a lot of fans, was that he was
being greedy. People were saying $82 million
for a bench player who averages eight points
a game. Are you kidding me? Right. But on October
22, just before the season started, he got it.
Five years, $82 million. And you're right. If
you look at it in a vacuum, just based on points
per game, it was an overpay. But in the context
of that team, it was the cost of keeping a championship
window open. If they lose him, they probably
don't have the personnel to beat Golden State
the next year. And that investment paid off almost
immediately, the 2016 championship. He was a
workhorse again, played all 82 games that season.
In March of 2016, he broke the franchise record
for consecutive games played, passing Jim Schoens
of Mark of 361. But the real return on investment
was the finals, the rematch, the historic 3 -1
comeback. We all remember the iconic moments
from that series, right? We remember the block
by LeBron on Andre Iguodala. We remember the
shot by Kyrie over Steph. But what was the Tristan
Thompson moment? It's not one single moment.
It's the cumulative pressure he applied. The
Warriors loved to play their death lineup with
Draymond Green at center. They wanted to go small
and run you off the floor. Most centers couldn't
stay on the court against that lineup. They were
too slow. Thompson could. And he punished him
for it. He feasted on the offensive glass, just
demoralizing them. He essentially averaged a
double -double in that series. Ten points, ten
rebounds. He did all the dirty work. And you
just don't beat. A 73 -win Warriors team without
someone who was willing to set the hard screens,
dive for the loose balls, and absolutely break
the other team's spirit by grabbing an offensive
rebound after they just played 23 seconds of
perfect defense. That was Kristen Thompson's
value. That was the $82 million right there.
He's a champion. He helps end the 52 -year championship
drought for the city of Cleveland. And he just
keeps playing. The streak keeps going. It eventually
hits 447 consecutive games. 447 games. Longest
active streak in the league at the time. It finally
ended on April 5, 2017 because of sprained thumb,
a fluke injury. But just think about that for
a second. Nearly six full seasons without missing
a single game. In the modern era of load management
where star players sit out because it's a Tuesday,
that is a unicorn statistic. It's unbelievable.
It really is. It defines the entire first half
of his career. That old saying, availability
is the best ability. But all empires fall. LeBron
leaves Cleveland again in 2018. The Cavs go into
a full -scale tank, and we enter Section 5, the
journeyman years. Thompson stays in Cleveland
for a bit during the rebuild. He's the veteran
presence. And he actually put up some surprisingly
good numbers on those bad teams. He had more
offensive freedom. He dropped a career -high
35 points against the Pistons in January 2020.
He was even trying to expand his game, shooting
a few threes here and there. Average to double
-double that year. But then... The suitcase era
begins, and it gets dizzying trying to keep track.
Walk us through the 2020 to 2023 timeline. Okay,
so it starts in November of 2020. He signs with
the Boston Celtics. It's a two -year, $19 million
deal. An interesting little side note here. He
actually became a U .S. citizen during his time
in Boston, so he's a dual citizen now. And how
was the Boston fit for him? It was. It was okay.
Just okay. He averaged about seven points and
eight rebounds. Solid. but not spectacular. The
Celtics were looking for more financial flexibility
and a different look. So in August 2021, They
traded him to the Sacramento Kings in a three
-team deal. And in Sacramento, we found a statistical
anomaly in our notes that I absolutely love.
Chuckles, yeah. It is? It's one of my favorite
weird stats. Through the first half of that season
with the Kings, Tristan Thompson technically
led the entire NBA in three -point percentage.
How is that even possible? We just spent 10 minutes
talking about how he had to switch shooting hands
because he couldn't shoot. Small sample size
theater. It's the magic of small numbers. He
took very, very few threes and he just happened
to make it. So for a stretch of the season, he
was shooting 100 % from deep. It was a statistical
mirage, but it's a funny footnote for a guy whose
range was historically limited to, you know,
three feet from the basket. Okay, so he's in
Sacramento. Then comes February 2022, the month
of chaos. If you blinked, you missed a jersey
change. Absolute chaos. February 8th, he gets
traded to the Indiana Pacers. As part of that
massive blockbuster deal that sent Tyrese Halliburton
to Indiana and DeMantis Sabonis to Sacramento.
Okay, so he's a pacer now. For four games. Four.
That's it. Four games. He actually plays pretty
well. He scores 17 points in one of them. And
then on February 17th, the Pacers buy out his
contract. They're in full rebuild mode. They
don't need a veteran center taking up a roster
spot. So for a moment, he's a free agent. For
about 48 hours, yeah. On February 19th, he signs
with the Chicago Bulls for the rest of the season.
Three teams in less than two weeks. That is the
life of a journeyman in the NBA. You are literally
living out of a suitcase, learning new playbooks
on the flight to the next city. It really is.
He finishes out that season with the Bulls, provides
some veteran toughness for their playoff push,
but it's clear he's not... the Ironman starter
anymore. He's a specialist. And then he goes
unsigned for the vast majority of the 2022 -23
season. It really looked like it might be over
for him. He was doing some TV analyst work for
ESPN. He looked and sounded like a guy who had
moved on, like he was retired. It did. But then,
right before the 2023 playoffs were about to
start, the phone rings. It's the Los Angeles
Lakers. It's the reunion with LeBron James. The
Lakers needed some insurance big men, some veteran
bodies for their playoff run. They signed him
on April 9th, the last day of the regular season.
And he actually played. This wasn't just one
of those Udonis Haslam cheerleading roles from
the end of the bench. No, he gave them real meaningful
minutes in six playoff games. Yeah. He was out
there battling with Nikola Jokic in the Western
Conference Finals. And his final moment as a
Laker was actually. Kind of poetic, in a way.
It's Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals.
They're losing to Denver. The season is about
to end. Thompson cuts to the rim. And he gets
the ball and dunks it on an assist from LeBron
James. Exactly. It felt like the perfect curtain
call. The two guys who won that title together
in Cleveland connecting for one last bucket in
L .A. A great way to end it. But he didn't take
the bow. He didn't ride off into the sunset.
Which brings us to Section 6. The return, the
suspension, and the end of an era. He goes back
to Cleveland in September 2023. The prodigal
son returns. He signs a one -year deal. But this
return wasn't just a victory lap or a nostalgia
tour. He was brought back with a specific purpose,
to be the culture setter. The veteran voice in
the locker room for a young, exciting Cavs team
with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland. He
was supposed to be the adult in the room. And
then January 23, 2024, the press release drops
from the league office and it just shattered
that entire veteran mentor image. It was a bombshell.
suspended 25 games without pay for violating
the NBNBPA anti -drug program. Let's get specific
here. What did he actually take? Because usually
when an older player gets popped for something,
people assume it's like a diuretic or something
accidental in a supplement. No, this was not
accidental. It was very specific. He tested positive
for two substances, agutamorin and SARM, LGD
-43 -3. Okay, for the listener who isn't a chemist
or a professional bodybuilder, what are those
things? Agutamorin is what's known as a growth
hormone secretagogue. In simple terms, it stimulates
your body's production of growth hormone. And
SARM -LGD43 -3 is a selective androgen receptor
modulator. Basically, it's designed to mimic
testosterone's muscle -building and recovery
effects, but without some of the nastier side
effects of traditional anabolic steroids. Okay,
so this is heavy -duty stuff. This isn't just
a contaminated protein shake. It's strictly performance
-enhancing. It's about recovery and muscle retention
and strength. Precisely. It's exactly the kind
of stuff you might take when you are a 32 -year
-old trying to hold onto a body that is breaking
down after 13 years of banging in the post with
guys who are bigger and younger. But the irony
is just, it's palpable. This is the Iron Man,
the guy whose entire reputation was built on
playing 447 straight games naturally, the guy
who built his career on being durable. Why, at
the very end of his career, when he's just a
role player, does he turn to doping? That's the
tragedy of it, isn't it? Was it desperation?
Was it the fear of irrelevance? Was he just trying
to keep up with guys 10 years younger than him?
Whatever the reason, it really tarnished that.
Natural durability legacy. It puts a big unfortunate
asterisk next to his longevity. So he served
the 25 -game suspension. He came back. And here's
where it gets confusing again. He actually played
really well when he came back from the suspension.
He shot a career -high 60 .8 % from the field
that season. He was efficient. energetic which
ironically might suggest that the stuff was uh
working it suggests exactly that it suggests
the chemistry lab was doing its job pretty effectively
yeah he comes back for one final season the 2024
-25 season the cabs re -sign him again but the
tank was finally truly empty Yeah, the wheels
fell off completely. Career lows across the board.
1 .7 points per game, 3 .4 rebounds. He was playing
garbage time minutes at the end of blowouts.
And he went out on a pretty sour note, a moment
that I think kind of encapsulates the weirdness
of his later years. The game against the Raptors,
February 13th, 2025. In Toronto, his hometown
team is on the other side. Right. And the Cavs
are blowing out the Raptors. The game is over.
There are four seconds left on the clock. Thompson
gets the ball. Now, the unwritten rule of basketball,
the code, states when the game is decided, you
just dribble out the clock. You show respect.
You don't rub it in. You don't try to score.
Thompson ignores the code. He drives to the rim
and dunks it right as the clock expires. And
the Raptors, understandably, took exception to
that. Oh, they were furious. It sparked a huge
on -court argument. Players were shoving. It
was just... It was such a weird, messy way to
fade out, not with a championship wave to the
crowd, but with a meaningless garbage time dunk
in a scuffle. It feels like a microcosm of the
chaos. And speaking of chaos, we absolutely cannot
tell the full story of Tristan Thompson without
getting into Section 7, the personal life, the
tabloids. We have to navigate this part carefully
because it's a web. It is a sprawling, very complex
web of relationships that is played out in real
time in front of the entire world. And to be
fair to him, before we get into the tabloid headlines,
we should talk about his advocacy work, because
this is the part of him that is genuinely admirable
and often gets completely overshadowed by everything
else. Absolutely. We have to start with his brother,
Amari. Tell us about Amari. Amari is his youngest
brother, and he suffers from Lennox -Gastaut
syndrome. It's a rare and very, very severe form
of epilepsy. Amari experiences seizures almost
daily. He requires constant 247 care. And Tristan
hasn't just written a check and walked away.
He's been deeply involved. No, he's been hands
on. He founded the Amari Thompson Fund back in
2013 to support families dealing with epilepsy.
He works closely with Epilepsy Toronto. He's
a global ambassador for the Special Olympics.
And there are countless stories from teammates
and family about him spending time with Amari,
caring for him. It's very clear that he loves
his brother deeply and takes that responsibility
seriously. And he also faced a devastating personal
tragedy recently as well. Yes. His mother, Andrea,
passed away suddenly from a heart attack in January
of 2023. And by all accounts, she was the absolute
rock of that family. Thompson posted afterward
that his soul is empty. It was a devastating
loss, and after her passing, he had to step up
and become the primary legal guardian and caregiver
for Amari. So you have this very devoted brother
and son, a guy who is clearly carrying a very
heavy load at home. And then you have the relationship
timeline. Complexity is the only word for it.
Let's try to map this out chronologically because
it explains why if you ask a serious basketball
fan about Kristen Thompson, they'll say rebounding
and defense. But if you ask a random person on
the street, they'll say Khloe Kardashian. It's
a complete collision of worlds. Yeah. So first,
there is Jordan Craig. She is the mother of his
first child, his son Prince, who was born in
December 2016. But the timeline gets murky immediately
because they split up while she was pregnant
with their son. And right around that time, enter
Khloe Kardashian in 2016. And this is the moment
that launches him from being an NBA star to a
global celebrity. He becomes a regular character
on Keeping Up with the Kardashians. And then
the new show. The Kardashians. They start dating.
It's very high profile. She gets pregnant. And
then the first major scandal breaks. Days, literally
days before their daughter True is born in April
of 2018. Photos and videos surface of Thompson
with other women. It was a massive media firestorm.
But they stayed together through that. Briefly.
They tried to work it out for the sake of their
new daughter. But they officially split in February
2019 after another cheating scandal, this time
involving Jordan Woods, who was a very close
family friend of the Kardashians. OK, so they're
done. But then the pandemic happened and we all
did some crazy things during the pandemic. They
did. They ended up quarantining together in 2020
to co -parent True. They reconciled. Then they
split up again in June 2021. Then they reconciled
again in the fall of 2021. They even make the
decision to have a second child together, this
time via surrogate. And while that surrogacy
process is happening, while their second child
is on the way, the Marilyn Nichols lawsuit hits
the press. This is the bombshell that changes
everything. Marilyn Nichols files a paternity
suit in 2021. She gives birth to a son, Theo,
in December of that year. And the math showed
that the child was conceived in March 2021, which
is a time when Thompson was publicly back together
with Khloe Kardashian. So let me get this straight.
He is publicly apologizing to Chloe for fathering
a child with another woman, all while they are
privately expecting their own second child via
surrogate together. Exactly that. It is a level
of personal chaos that is almost hard to comprehend.
Their son Tatum was eventually born in July of
2022, and Thompson publicly confirmed he was
Theo's father and apologized to Chloe in a public
statement in January of 2022. It is. It's a lot.
And it creates this incredible duality that defines
his public image. It does. You can't separate
Tristan Thompson, the rebounder, from Tristan
Thompson, the tabloid fixture. They are intertwined.
And you have to assume the scrutiny he faced
at the court had to, at some point, impact the
locker room dynamics and his focus on the court.
So let's bring this all together. The outro.
The synthesis. We have the Iron Man. who meticulously
switched his dominant hand to save his career.
We have the tabloid figure who seemed to have
almost zero discipline in his personal relationships.
We have the veteran leader who gets suspended
for doping at the end of his career. It's a legacy
of extreme jarring contrast. On the basketball
court, for the vast majority of his career, he
was defined by one word, availability. Wow. He
got paid $82 million because you could count
on him to be there every single night fighting
for every loose ball. He was the ultimate safety
net for LeBron James and those Cavs teams. But
off the court. He was the opposite of a safety
net. He was volatility. He was unpredictable.
He was chaos. So what is the takeaway for you,
the listener? We've looked at the stats, the
scandals, the science of the hand switch. What
does it all mean? I think it's about the fragility
of reputation and it's about the definition of
value. For 10 years, Tristan Thompson built a
brand on reliability, grit, hard work, unsexy,
but dependable. But the decision -making, both
in his personal life and with that final PED
suspension, it eroded that trust. It overwrote
the brand he had built. It proves that durability
can build you a legend, but it's judgment that
preserves it. That's a really powerful distinction.
Durability builds it. Judgment preserves it.
Exactly. He will always be a champion. No one
can ever take that 2016 ring away from him. But
he won't be remembered just as a champion. He'll
be remembered as this incredibly complex, messy,
and contradictory figure who did whatever it
took to stay on the court, even if he couldn't
always keep it together off of it. And here is
a final provocative thought for you to chew on.
We marveled at him switching his shooting hand.
a radical physical adjustment to solve a physical
problem. It showed immense self -awareness and
the ability to change a fundamental habit for
the greater good of his game. But I wonder, if
he had applied that same level of radical self
-analysis, that same discipline to his decision
-making off the court earlier in his career,
would we be talking about a potential Hall of
Famer today? or at the very least, a beloved
Cleveland icon, rather than just a very wealthy,
very famous, and very, very complicated juryman?
That is the question that will hang over his
jersey forever. Thanks for diving deep with us
today on the complex career of Tristan Thompson.
We'll catch you on the next one. Take care.