Cleveland Cavaliers power forward Tristan Thompson is about to completely his fifth year in the NBA, mostly as a starter until this season where he is being used mostly as a rebounding reserve. He has had a huge coming out party these playoffs with Kevin Love lost to injury. Thompson is quiet and usually keeps to himself, so here are some things you probably didn’t know about Tristan Thompson, starting with number 15:
15. No Seafood For Me!
Tristan Thompson does not eat seafood. The story behind it is that his mother never ate fish. She said because they eat their own poop, she doesn’t eat fish.
Thompson is a very choosy eater, and specifically doesn’t like eating leftovers.
“I hate leftovers,” Thompson said. “Even in my childhood, I never liked reheating up food. I’ve been getting better lately, but I just hate warming up food because I think when I open it up, it doesn’t look fresh no more. It looks kind of, like, shriveled up. You know when you come out of the shower and you’re pruney and stuff? I’m like ugh. I want it fresh. If it isn’t fresh, make me another dish. And I hate cold food. I hate cold cuts.”
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14. Canada Basketball
Thompson is very prideful of where he’s from and loves to play basketball for his native Canada.
“USA gets the summer to relax and kind of just chill,” said Thompson. “But for us, it’s a big summer for our country. In 2016, we should have a good enough team to really medal, because Spain is getting old — by 2016 they’ll be very, very old, and their young group, I don’t know what their young group is like, but their head honchos are old. Russia is older. Argentina, those guys are going to be soon retired and stop playing. Brazil is always strong because they just have good players for international ball, but for us, we’re the next cream of the crop.”
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13. Tristan Thompson is a huge hockey fan
Thompson’s favorite sport to watch other than basketball is hockey. He’s an especially huge fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who play for his hometown of Toronto.
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iTunes
12. Tristan Thompson, The… Singer?
Tristan Thompson shares the same name as the British Columbia singer, Tristan Thompson (as shown above).
“Is he any good? Does he have a lot of views? Like millions? Is he good-looking? Do girls like him?” Thompson asked. “He probably gets Twitter mentions about me. He hasn’t blown up yet.”
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Lonnie Timmons III | The Plain Dealer
11. Mama Love LeBron
Thompson’s mom love LeBron James and loves even more the fact that her son has a chance to play with the world’s greatest at the highest level of basketball.
“I’m so glad he’s playing with LeBron,” Andrea Brooks, Thompson’s mother, said. “He only can learn. He can learn to be better because he’s playing with the best. He can take that blessing and turn it to be good in his life.”
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He Got Game Movie Poster
10. He Got Game
Thompsons favorite basketball movie is the 1998 hit film, ‘He Got Game.’ The Spike Lee directed movie starred Ray Allen as the infamous Jesus Shuttleworth and Denzel Washington who played Allen’s father in the movie. Last year, Allen and Lee were discussing a possible sequel to the film, but its unclear what the outcome of that discussion was.
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Harry E. Walker, MCT
9. Here, Just Block Me
Thompson was on pace to be the most shot-blocked player in NBA history
During the 2012-2013 season, Thompson was getting his shot blocked on 17% of his shots. That’s a 1-in-6 chance of getting his shots blocked, which was on pace to pass Danny Fortson’s record of having 16.5% of his shots blocked. Thompson eventually dropped that percentage to 15% by season’s end, but only three other players in NBA history have had 15% or more of their shots blocked in a season.
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8. He is dating model Jordan Craig
Thompson and Craig have apparently been datingor at least seeing one another since August of 2014. The two were spotted together at a Hollywood nightclub in Los Angeles, and have been together since.
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Cary Edmondson | USA TODAY Sports
7. Soccer Before Basketball
Thompson used to play soccer in middle school. He decided to switch to basketball after he got too tall to run up and down the soccer field.
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6. Thompson’s fave team prior to being draft was…the Heat?
Although he was only able to watch them for one year, Thompson’s favorite team was the Miami Heat team led by LeBron James in the 2010-11 season. The team that James left, the Cavs, drafted Thompson just one year later after having the worst record in the Eastern Conference.
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Drake, The Weeknd, and Thompson
5. Music By Drake and the Weeknd.
Thompson’s favorite artists are Toronto natives Drake and the Weeknd, but he also enjoys R&B star Ne-Yo.
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4. Toronto-born, he attended high school in Brampton, Ontario, before switching to Saint Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, New Jersey
After visiting Saint Benedict’s during a trip from Brampton, he decided to switch to the school after seeing the immense skill level present at the institution.
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3. He switched schools after a heated debate with his first high school coach.
Twenty-one games into his junior year, the relationship between Thompson and then-St. Benedict’s coach Dan Hurley hit a rough patch. Hurley’s in-your-face, no holds barred coaching style took a toll on the young star. During a game against then-top-ranked Mater Dei, Hurley confronted Thompson during a time out. A heated debate ensued, and Thompson was sent off the court and later removed from the team. Over the next few days he made it known that he was planning to leave, resulting in a barrage of calls from the top prep schools throughout North America, all trying to acquire the top recruit’s services. The next week he transferred to Findlay Prep with his friend, AAU teammate and future Texas Longhorn Cory Joseph. There he was a top prospect going into his junior season.
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Tristan Thompson Twitter
2. Thompson is an avid donut lover
Thompson loves the Canadian made doughnut shop, Tim Hortons, and visits their U.S. stores whenever he gets the chance. The picture lets us know why!
I couldn't leave my city without getting some @TimHortonsUS! #MaybeIllShare #ButKeepingTheChocolateOnes pic.twitter.com/z3h8RZZzjQ
— Tristan Thompson (@RealTristan13) March 5, 2015
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1. 4 Brothers
Thompson is the oldest of four boys and remains close with all his three siblings. He’s followed by 19-year-old Dishawn, 9-year-old Daniel, and 8-year-old Amari. The two older brothers play basketball, but his youngest brother Amari suffers from epilepsy.
After finding this out, Thompson joined with an organization called Epilepsy Toronto and has since started a fund in his name to meet, help, and understand other families who are going through similar scenarios.
“As a kid, when he first started getting seizures, I was so scared,” Thompson said. “I was nervous because I didn’t know what to do exactly,” Thompson said. “It’s definitely changed our family, but at the same time, I think it’s just a blessing to be able to understand what he’s going through.”
“Other families are going through it, too, and it’s a way for us to meet other people that are going through it and hear their stories and kind of just learn and grow a bigger family outside of our household.”