Throughout the course of an NBA season, it is always common for certain players to be the victims of pieces that paint them in a bad light. For instance, Kevin O'Connor of The Ringer recently came out and said that Tristan Thompson was no longer popular in the Celtics locker room and that his teammates weren't really fans of him. This led to quite a bit of backlash on social media as numerous Celtics players came out and defended their new squad member.
Recently, Thompson was asked by reporters about O'Connor's piece, and as you can imagine, he wasn't a fan. Thompson was adamant that he has a great relationship with all of his teammates and that throughout his career, he has built himself a solid reputation.
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“That guy, Kevin O’Connor — I don’t know if I should mention his name or not, because he doesn’t deserve my two cents, but I remember every name because I am like an elephant,” Thompson said. “So, with him saying I’m not liked in the locker room, that was funny, because that’s not the case. Why not mention my name? Especially with our team going through and up-and-down season like everyone is trying to say. So it makes sense to point out one of the better guys. But [Jaylen Brown] and Kemba [Walker] came in and had their tweet. Kemba doesn’t ever tweet and he tweeted that, and JB came and did the same thing. That guy just wanted clickbaits. You’re welcome, Kevin O’Connor, for using my name. Got you some more hits and some retweets.”
With the Celtics struggling at times this season, it shouldn't be surprising that this kind of reporting was done. When a team has issues, a scapegoat is usually sought out, and in this instance, it just so happened to be Thompson.
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[Via]