Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson escalated a war of words with Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic on Thursday, one day after a controversial finish to their game.
The Raptors were angered after Thompson threw down a dunk with 4.1 seconds left in the Cavaliers’ 131-108 victory on Wednesday night, especially since Toronto players had stopped playing defense on the final possession. The dunk led to a number of Raptors players trying to confront Thompson on the court after the game ended, including star forward Scottie Barnes.
After the game, Rajakovic endorsed his players’ actions, praising them for standing up for themselves. He also said Thompson’s actions were “no class and disrespectful.”
Thompson defended himself on Thursday in a post on X. In response to Rajakovic’s comments, the Cavaliers center accused the Raptors of playing a full court press in the final minute despite their huge deficit, and said the Raptors should be happy with the loss since it benefits their odds in the draft lottery.
“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.”
Thompson’s comments will not exactly soothe the tension. Neither will suggesting the Raptors should just take the loss and lean into their lottery odds, even though the team is 17-38 and should realistically be fine with bolstering their draft odds.
The Raptors and Cavaliers do not meet again this season, so if Toronto wants revenge, it will have to carry over into next year.
Thompson might want to be wary of messing with Rajakovic, who has previously demonstrated that he has quite the temper if something sets him off.
