‘Pay it forward’: Tristan Thompson brings young Kings lessons learned from LeBron James
Over the span of a few short days, Tristan Thompson has put his personality on full display for all of Sacramento to see.
Thompson has been a welcome addition to the Kings’ locker room since training camp began earlier this week. He rescued Buddy Hield in hilarious fashion Monday from a question about nearly getting traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He busted out J.R. Smith’s old dance moves to celebrate a shot by De’Aaron Fox during Wednesday’s workout and shared a laugh with Kings owner Vivek Ranadive after practice Thursday.
Thompson routinely appears in the tabloids due to his on-again, off-again relationship with Khloe Kardashian. For those keeping track, they were reportedly spotted together last week while taking their 3-year-old daughter to dance class, but Thompson has been in Sacramento this week for the start of training camp. He’s entertaining teammates, endearing himself to fans, bursting into impromptu product pitches and telling stories about his days with LeBron James.
“Shoutout to Tristan for always keeping everything light around here and bringing a lot of energy,” Kings forward Harrison Barnes said. “I think guys really feed off that and maybe that’s what we’re about this year, just continuing to look inward for motivation, look inward for positivity and build each other up.”
The Kings acquired Thompson, 30, in August in the three-way trade that sent Delon Wright to the Atlanta Hawks. At 6-foot-9 and 254 pounds, the 10-year NBA veteran can play the power forward and center positions, giving coach Luke Walton added flexibility in a frontcourt that also features Harrison Barnes, Marvin Bagley III, Maurice Harkless, Richaun Holmes, Alex Len, Chimezie Metu and Damian Jones.
Thompson comes in with career averages of 9.3 points and 8.7 rebounds. He had a career year with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2019-20, averaging 12.0 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.1 assists, before his numbers dipped a bit with the Boston Celtics last season.
Thompson and Walton were teammates for two years with the Cavaliers, who took Thompson out of Texas with the No. 4 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. Thompson said he hasn’t spoken to Walton about his role yet, but “that talk will be easy” given the nature of their relationship.
“I’m just going to come in and do whatever it takes to win,” Thompson said. “I think everyone knows what my strengths are and what I can bring to the table and how I can impact and change a game. What I’ve done in my career is impact winning basketball, so I think everyone knows that.”
Thompson still reflects on the leadership James demonstrated when he returned to Cleveland in 2014-15. James imparted years of knowledge and experience on younger teammates like Thompson, Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters. The Cavaliers lost to the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals that season, but they returned a year later to defeat the Warriors, overcoming a 3-1 deficit for the first time in Finals history to win their first championship.
Now, Thompson is in Sacramento, and he wants to share what he has learned with the likes of Fox, Tyrese Haliburton, Davion Mitchell, Bagley and Holmes.
“I’m excited to be here,” Thompson said. “This team has a lot of very talented young players and I’ve been on the other side when me, Kyrie and Dion were in Cleveland and LeBron came back. LeBron brought the energy and kind of brought that hard-work mentality each and every day, and I think it’s only right to take what I’ve learned from him and pass it on to the younger generation and our stars that are coming in this league.
“That’s how you keep this league growing and that’s how you keep the talent at a high level. Vets that learn great things from others and don’t want to pass it on, you’re doing a disservice to our league. It’s a brotherhood and a fraternity, so it’s my job to pay it forward and then when D. Fox and Tyrese and Davion get to my age, they pass it on to the next (generation) and that’s how you keep the league at a high level.”
Thompson is a longtime friend of former Kings guard Cory Joseph and a former teammate of Iman Shumpert, who brought an undeniable swagger to Sacramento in 2018-19 after being part of the championship team in Cleveland.
“Shump came in here with a championship pedigree,” Thompson said. “He was huge in terms of our run to win the championship. He had huge moments for us. He was huge for our team. Him coming in here and working hard and doing what he does was great, so I’m just going to continue that, continue that and keep building. Keep building it from what Shump and Cory left here, keep building from there and help these guys be the best they can potentially be.”
Thompson said he checked in with Joseph after learning he had been traded to Sacramento.
“As soon as the trade happened, I called Cory,” Thompson said. “He told me the staff here is great and the fellas that are here, they want to learn, they’re great listeners. And Cory’s been at a high level in his playing career, winning a championship and being on multiple playoff teams and being competitive. He said, ‘Double T, just be yourself and go in there and teach the young fellas. Go in there and be yourself,’ and that’s just working hard every day, punching the clock, putting my hard hat on, and leading by example, but also with your voice and knowledge.”
Thompson said he was thrust into a leadership role in Cleveland when James left Cleveland for the second time in 2018, leaving coach Tyronn Lue with a roster that still included Thompson, Smith, Kevin Love and Jordan Clarkson.
“Once LeBron left Cleveland, we were in a situation where we still had a couple veteran guys like myself, K-Love, J.R. and a couple of other guys,” Thompson said. “We were in kind of a tough stage, especially with T-Lue going to four straight finals and being in a situation where your best player goes on in free agency to another team. It was kind of a stage where guys had to figure out who was next in line to step up and be that leader, and I took the challenge because I spent a lot of time with LeBron on and off the court, just with our relationship. He taught me a lot in terms of leadership and how to get the best out of each player and understanding personalities.”
Holmes said Thompson has made an instant difference in training camp.
“It’s just that presence that be brings,” Holmes said. “He understands how to play basketball at this level, understands how to win at this level, and he’s bringing a tremendous presence to this team.”
This story was originally published October 1, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
