This season, Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson has been commended for his “gritty, tough, nasty” role on the team.
From his consistent hustle to stellar rebounding, the 6-foot-10, 250-pound veteran is a commanding presence on the court.
Unfortunately, the 32-year-old’s strength garnered him a flagrant two foul during the fourth quarter of the 2024 NBA Paris Game between the Cavaliers and the Brooklyn Nets.
A conflict between Thompson and Brooklyn center Nic Claxton began brewing early in the final period. With 11:16 remaining in the quarter, the pair got tangled up with each other while going after a rebound, which resulted in a double foul.
Both players appeared to be jawing at one another for a while after this occurred.
Then, just over a minute later, Claxton threw down an alley-oop dunk to trim Cleveland’s lead to 10 points. After the play, the Nets big man flexed his muscles and yelled in the direction of Thompson.
The Cavaliers big man then approached Claxton and hit him with his shoulder, which caused both benches to clear.
Thompson’s extra-curricular action was reviewed for a “hostile act,” which the NBA deemed it to be. While he was ejected due to his flagrant foul, Claxton was tagged with a technical foul for taunting.
This marks the fourth ejection of Thompson’s 12-year NBA career, and third as a Cavalier.
His first ejection was during Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals, which eventually led to a scuffle. Then, he was ejected for smacking a player’s backside during a game in January of 2020.
Finally, his most recent ejection before today’s was in late March of 2022. During a game as a member of the Chicago Bulls, Thompson uttered profanity toward an NBA game official, which resulted in a $20,000 fine.
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