The Cleveland Cavaliers aren’t favorites in the Eastern Conference anymore, and although people can understand how Tristan Thompson feels, he and his teammates might want to play some games first to prove themselves.
Tristan Thompson has not been the biggest fan of what the media has had to say about the Cleveland Cavaliers. Thompson is a player going into his eighth year in 2018-19, and he’s proven himself to be a grinder throughout his time in the league, averaging 9.0 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He’s been a key contributor for Cleveland in his four postseason appearances, all of which he went to the NBA Finals.
With the Cavaliers now shifting gears without LeBron James and still wanting to compete for the postseason again in 2018-19, Thompson has wanted to make it known that he and Cleveland are not going to roll over. Today, he doubled down on his belief that the Cavs are going to still be a factor in the East. The veteran big went after the likely contenders in the East, per WKYC’s Ben Axelrod.
Tristan Thompson: “We’re still 4-time Eastern Conference champions, so until you take us down from that, teams ain’t got much to say. Boston, Philly, they ain’t got much to say. Boston had homecourt Game 7 and lost. Philly, you guys almost got swept. Toronto - we know that story” pic.twitter.com/gnGqd4mGeM
— Ben Axelrod (@BenAxelrod) September 27, 2018
Now, now, TT. Let’s not gloss over the fact that you, Kevin Love, Kyle Korver and others had James on the team. That guy is well, I don’t know, pretty good I guess?
Star Philadelphia 76ers Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid didn’t completely agree with Thompson’s comments, per Drew Corrigan of House of Highlights.
Embiid had a response of “Boy if you don’t,” (initally h/t Bleacher Report’s Rob Goldberg), and Simmons clapped back by saying “ha yeh okay buddy see you soon,” in an obviously less-than-serious tone.
The Cavaliers aren’t going into this season with the most fanfare in the world, considering of their seven national TV games on this year’s docket, two of them are against LeBron James’ Los Angeles Lakers (according to 92.3 The Fan’s Daryl Ruiter).
Yes, the Cavaliers could have a fun team to watch with Kevin Love taking the number one option role, Cedi Osman and Collin Sexton racing the rock down the floor, and Larry Nance Jr. and potentially Billy Preston making big strides as all-around bigs.
That said, Thompson and the rest of an unproven sans-James team might want to let their game do the talking and not piss off the top dogs in the East. Yes, the Cavs have most recently won the East, but this year is an entirely different situation. TT, that kind of stuff isn’t leadership right now.