“No Class” Raptors Coach Rajakovic Slams Tristan Thompson after scuffle

One thing about Uncle Darko is that he is gonna stand on business.

Sure, the Toronto Raptors lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers by 23 points on Wednesday night — but what’s making headlines is what happened at the end of the game.

In the final seconds of the buzzer, Tristan Thompson decided to take the shot instead of respectfully dribbling it out as is custom. Scottie Barnes and the Raptors did not like that, which led to an altercation on the court where Thompson and other players had to be held back and escorted off the court. The fans at Scotiabank Arena boo’d Thompson off the court, and that was the end of that.

For five minutes, anyway.

Immediately following the game, in his routine post game press conference, Raptors coach Darko Rajakovic was asked about the scuffle. He said it was a “no class” move from Thompson and reiterated his usual stance that he will always support and protect his players.

Of course, comments like that will always go viral, especially with Darko’s reputation of spicy postgame press moments. Remember the Los Angeles Lakers rant of 2024?

Thompson then decided to retaliate with a statement of his own, saying the Raptors asked for it by putting on a full court press at the end of the game. He then told Darko to “stay warm in MY city” — which is confusing because I didn’t think Darko was travelling to Brampton anytime soon…

Our friends over at Fear the Sword shared what Cleveland’s head coach said after the game, that he “was not sure what [Thompson] was thinking,” and also did not think there was any bad intent with Thompson’s move. As bystanders to the tumultuous relationship Thompson has shared with his home country’s team’s fans over the years… we beg to differ.

Now, one way to piss off people in Toronto is to claim it as “your city” when you’re from Brampton — touchy subject. It’s like claiming New York City as your city, but you live in Albany. It’s not the same.

It would be one thing if Thompson was leading this excellent Cleveland Cavaliers team to their impressive 44-10 record… but he’s not. Toronto-based statistician Keerthika Uthayakumar made sure to get the facts straight by quoting Thompson’s tweet:

Mic drop from Keeks there.

Anyway, the Cavaliers won the game, so big ups to them. They are having a great season and now have swept the season series against Toronto. Wishing them good luck and see ya next season.

Of course, if you’d like to rewatch the Darko LA rant again, I wouldn’t leave you hanging like that: