Raptors coach slams 'disrespectful' dunk by Brampton's Tristan ...

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Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic says Cleveland centre and embattled Brampton basketballer Tristan Thompson was “disrespectful” for a late-game dunk on Wednesday.

Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic says Cleveland Cavaliers centre and embattled Brampton basketballer Tristan Thompson was “disrespectful” for a late-game dunk on Wednesday.

With four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter of the Cavaliers’ 131-108 victory last night  over the Toronto Raptors, Thompson’s dunk got boos from the Toronto crowd while Raptors players Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead confronted Thompson after the final buzzer to express their displeasure at the late two-handed slam.

Rajakovic says he loves it when his team stands up for themselves, while Thompson took to social media to blast back at the Raptors’ coach.

“I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful, I’m not going to stand for that, for sure,” Rajakovic told reporters about the late-game dunk. “I love when my team stands up for themselves,” he continued.

But Thompson clapped back on social media, saying “when you get cracked by 30 this will happen to you.”

“You wanna full court press with under a minute left in the game when you get cracked by 30 this will happen to you,” the Brampton centre said 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 and Masai long term plan. Bless up stay warm in MY CITY,” the post reads.

Many users on social media responded to his post, with some Raptors fans saying they have no love for the controversial basketballer.

“Typical Brampton man claiming Toronto as his city when none of us here are claiming him,” one user wrote, while others took shots at his past and very public controversies.

In 2023, Thompson was suspended 25 games by the NBA for violating its anti-drug program. The news came weeks after the Brampton basketballer was named as a global ambassador by the Special Olympics International.

The league said that Thompson tested positive for ibutamoren and SARM LGD-4033. His suspension will begin with Wednesday’s game between Cleveland and the Milwaukee Bucks.

He previously made tabloid headlines after cheating on his partner and reality TV star Khloé Kardashian while she was pregnant with the couple’s first child. The two have had an off-again-on-again relationship for years and had a second child through a surrogate in 2022.

Thompson was drafted fourth overall by the Cavaliers in 2011, and won a championship with Cleveland in 2016.

He attended St. Marguerite d’Youville Secondary School in Brampton before moving to the U.S. for his sophomore year and has gone on to play for the Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers, Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers between 2020 and 2023 before returning to the Cavaliers.

– With files from The Canadian Press

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