NSFW: Tristan Thompson lets expletives fly in postgame rant after Kings’ loss to T-Wolves
Kings forward Tristan Thompson was in no mood to mince words, so he let the expletives fly while airing his frustrations following a 107-97 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday at Target Center.
In a spirited postgame news conference, Thompson sounded off in response to questions about winning, losing, leadership and coach Luke Walton, who could be on the hot seat in Sacramento if the team’s struggles continue. Thompson bemoaned the fact that the Kings are losing to teams that “don’t want to win games” and responded in no uncertain terms when asked if they need more vocal leadership from Walton.
“I’m going to say this,” Thompson said. “I think no man in this world should rely on another man to inspire them, pointblank, period. You can put that in all capitals. Me personally, no one should ever need a coach to inspire you. If you don’t get inspired in a game, then you shouldn’t be on the court.
“Losing teams, losing players, you need to get inspiration from your coach, and I’m not with that s---. My teammates aren’t with it because I know guys want to win and they want to win badly, so it’s not about Coach Walton inspiring you. This is not no freaking ‘Glory Road’ s---. No, you’ve got to be ready to play. Your number is called, you’re in the damn game, I don’t need no f---ing coach to inspire me. Never that. Never have. Never will. The day I need a coach to inspire me is the day I’m f---ing retiring. I’m going to go play with my kids in the park.”
The Kings (6-9) find themselves in this funk after losing five of their last six games. They snapped a four-game losing streak Monday with a win over the Detroit Pistons (3-10), but they went 1-3 on the road trip with losses to the San Antonio Spurs (4-10), Oklahoma City Thunder (6-8) and Timberwolves (5-9).
“The reality is this road trip should have been a 4-0,” Thompson said. “I was going on this road trip planning on going 4-0. The teams that we played against — OKC, they don’t want to win games. They want to rebuild. Everyone f---ing knows that. The Spurs, they have all young guys. They’re trying to figure it out. They have damn near eight guys that all play the same position. They’re trying to figure it out. Do they want to win games? Maybe. Sure. Do they really want to be in the playoffs? Probably not. Probably want a top-10 pick.
“The Timberwolves, they’ve got names, but are they trying to win? Roll the dice, see what happens, figure out their roster. Detroit, they do not want to win. They want another top-three or top-five pick, and that’s no disrespect to the players on their team. They’re going to play hard and give it everything they’ve got, but at the end of the day, I know how this league works and I know how the front office works. I could break down every front office and I know their mentality coming into every season, especially after 20 games, so those teams — three out of four teams — really didn’t want to win games. They’re probably pissed that they won those games, so tonight was another night. These are the games you have to win if you’re trying to be in the playoffs, or be in the play-in game, these are the wins you have to capitalize on.”
The Kings answered Walton’s call to crash the boards, outrebounding the Timberwolves 47-35, but they committed 20 turnovers while shooting 36.6% from the field.
“What guys gotta understand is that those little things over the course of 48 minutes, the my-bads after the my-bads after the my-bads is what’s going to cost you a game in the fourth quarter,” Thompson said.
Thompson, who won an NBA championship with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016, explained why he was so frustrated.
“I care,” he said. “I want to win. I care about my teammates and I know what we can be, so the frustration is from a place of love and a place of tough love, but also because I know what we can be. If I thought this team wasn’t s--- or had no potential, then I probably wouldn’t feel the way I feel, but I know what this team is capable of.
“I know each and every guy, their heart is in the right place and they want to win. Every guy in there wants to win. You know it. You see it in their eyes. I’ve been on teams that you see quitters. You see losers, just straight-out losers, but this team has guys who want to win and want to do something special for this city.
“We’ve just got to come together and we’ve just got to really learn from those mistakes and really make sure we make it a priority. And it’s all of us. Me, too. … We’re all at fault here. From the top to the bottom, we’re all at fault. We’re in this together.”
There was renewed speculation about Walton’s future with the Kings this week after The Athletic reported his job could be in jeopardy if the team continued to struggle. Thompson said the Kings can’t get caught up in that kind of talk.
“You can’t listen to the outside noise,” Thompson said. “At the end of the day, the guys that come to work with you, from trainers to coaches to PTs to equipment people to the chef, we’re all in this together. It’s a family, and when you face adversity, it judges a man’s character, but for our team, it’s got to bring us closer. We’re not splintering. We’re not going our own way. We’re going to stay together, especially with me here. We’re going to stay together. I’m going to make sure of that because I take that with pride.
“I’m going to do everything I can to make sure that we keep pushing. No one’s going to feel sorry for you. This is the NBA. No one’s going to feel sorry for you. C-Webb and Bibby ain’t coming through that door, so you’ve got to keep pushing each and every day, keep getting better in practice, keep watching the film, learn from the mistakes. If we all can just get 1% better each and every day, then we’ll get our fair share of wins.”
This story was originally published November 18, 2021 at 4:00 AM.
