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Tag: Raptors

  • Tristan Thompson responds to Raptors coach Darko Rajaković’s suggestion Cavaliers star lacked class

    Tristan Thompson responds to Raptors coach Darko Rajaković’s suggestion Cavaliers star lacked class

    On Wednesday, Toronto Raptors coach Darko Rajaković described veteran Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson as a “no-class” player after the Cavs’ 131-108 win over the Raptors.

    Rajaković also suggested Thompson’s actions showed a lack of respect. 

    “I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful,” Rajaković said during a postgame press conference. “I’m not going to stand for that, for sure. I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was no class.”

    Rajaković was irked by Thompson’s two-handed slam in the final seconds of the game.

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    Raptors players Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead confronted Thompson immediately after the final buzzer sounded, and some fans directed boos at the Cavs big man.

    The Cleveland Cavaliers’ Tristan Thompson, right, has words with the Toronto Raptors in Toronto Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.  (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

    Thompson took to social media Thursday to share his response to Rajaković’s remarks. Thompson asserted that the Raptors engaged in a “full court press” even as Toronto was trailing by double-digits late in the game.

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    “You wanna full court press with under a minute left in the game when you get cracked by 30 this will happen to you. 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,” Thompson wrote on X Feb. 13.

    Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said he didn’t understand Thompson’s thought process at the time, but he also did not believe there were “bad intentions” behind the dunk.

    Tristan Thompson dunks

    Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson dunks against the Toronto Raptors during the second half at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto Feb. 12, 2025. (John E. Sokolowski/Imagn Images)

    “I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Atkinson said. “Sometimes, though, you’re playing the game, and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there’s no bad intention there. I think just sometimes you’re playing, and the goal of the game is to score. Unfortunate.”

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    Thompson, who is from Canada, had four points in four minutes. He is averaging 1.7 points and 3 rebounds per game in 28 games this season.

    Fox News’ Ryan Gaydos contributed to this report.

    Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

    Chantz Martin is a sports writer for Fox News Digital.

  • Tristan Thompson responds to Raptors coach Darko Rajaković’s suggestion Cavaliers star lacked class

    Cavs’ Tristan Thompson sparks skirmish over last-second slam dunk vs Raptors

    Cleveland Cavaliers veteran Tristan Thompson ruffled feathers in the team’s 131-108 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night.

    The longtime center, who is only averaging about 7.8 minutes per game these days, scored a last-second dunk at the end of the blowout win. Raptors fans booed Thompson as he jogged back down the court. A few Raptors players got into Thompson’s face as well once the buzzer sounded to signal the end of the game.

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    Cleveland Cavaliers’ Tristan Thompson, #13, has words with the Toronto Raptors in an NBA basketball game in Toronto on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

    The skirmish was broken up, but Raptors head coach Darko Rajakovic called the last-minute slam “disrespectful.”

    “I think what Tristan did there was no class and disrespectful,” Rajakovic said. “I’m not going to stand for that, for sure. I love when my team stands up for themselves. That was no class.”

    Raptors guards Scottie Barnes and Jamal Shead were among those who confronted Thompson. Barnes declined to comment after the game, but Shead agreed with Rajakovic.

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    Tristan Thompson dunks

    Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson, #13, dunks the ball against the Toronto Raptors during the second half at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Feb. 12, 2025. (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images)

    “What he did at the end of the game was just a little bit disrespectful to the game of basketball, not just us,” Shead said. “We had a couple of choice words. We’re adults, we’ll move on from it.”

    Cleveland star Donovan Mitchell was seen with his hands over his head in disbelief after Thompson’s dunk. Head coach Kenny Atkinson didn’t have many answers for it.

    “I’m not sure what he was thinking,” Atkinson said. “Sometimes, though, you’re playing the game and you just have a reaction. I know with Tristan, there’s no bad intention there. I think just sometimes you’re playing and the goal of the game is to score. Unfortunate.”

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    Raptors players on the bench

    From left to right, Toronto Raptors’ Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley sit on the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in Toronto on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

    Thompson, who is from Canada, had four points in four minutes. He is averaging 1.7 points and 3 rebounds per game in 28 games this season.

    The Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

    Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.

  • Raptors fans boo ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ in latest anti-American display in Canada after Trump’s tariffs

    Raptors fans boo ‘Star-Spangled Banner’ in latest anti-American display in Canada after Trump’s tariffs

    “The Star-Spangled Banner” was once again booed in Canada ahead of a sporting event.

    The latest anti-American display took place at the Scotiabank Arena before the Toronto Raptors took on the Los Angeles Clippers. Fans booed the American national anthem as a 15-year-old female sang it. A mix of boos and cheers were heard before she received a resounding applause for the Canadian national anthem, “O, Canada.”

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    Raptors forwards, from left, Bruce Brown, Scottie Barnes and Chris Boucher react as fans boo the U.S. national anthem before the Los Angeles Clippers game in Toronto, Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)

    The theme of Canadians booing the American anthem began Saturday night as the Ottawa Senators and the Calgary Flames hosted NHL games. 

    The boos seemingly occurred as President Donald Trump followed through on his promise to place tariffs of 25% on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10% on imports from China. Any energy resources from Canada would be hit at a 10% rate.

    In a statement obtained by Fox News Saturday, the Trump administration said the order is in response to an “extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, (that) constitutes a national emergency.”

    OTTAWA SENATORS FANS BOO USA NATIONAL ANTHEM AFTER TRUMP ISSUES TARIFFS

    Maple leaf at Scotiabank Arena

    Canada’s maple leaf logo at center court before a game between the Washington Wizards and Raptors at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Oct. 20, 2023. (John E. Sokolowski-USA Today Sports)

    Ahead of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing his resignation, Trump said he would “love” if Canada could become the “51st state.”

    Trudeau has since lamented the tariffs that the Trump administration has levied.

    In a fact sheet released by the White House on Saturday, the U.S. is implementing tariffs against Canada, Mexico and China to hold them accountable “to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.” This “extraordinary threat,” the White House said, “constitutes a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.”

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    Ottawa Senators fans

    The national anthems are sung at Canadian Tire Centre before the NHL game between the Ottawa Senators and the Los Angeles Kings on Oct. 14, 2024, in Ottawa, Canada. (André Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images)

    However, Trudeau claimed that “less than 1% of fentanyl and less than one% illegal crossings into the United States come from Canada.”

    FOX Business’ Christopher Guly and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

    Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.

    Ryan Gaydos is a senior editor for Fox News Digital.