Tristan Thompson says he heard racist comments from Celtics fans while playing for the Cavs

By David Akerman
Updated: May 28, 2021

Former Cleveland Cavaliers center Tristan Thompson is in his first season as a member of the Boston Celtics.

In addition to the multiple regular season games as a member of the Cavaliers, Thompson also faced off against the Celtics three separate times in the NBA playoffs.

On Friday, the 30-year-old revealed that he had Boston fans direct racist comments at him while he was playing as an opponent at TD Garden. Thompson also gave his take on the incident that saw a New York Knicks fan spit on Atlanta Hawks star guard Trae Young.

The Celtics' Tristan Thompson says he did have Boston fans direct racist comments at him when he was an opponent here, but not since he joined the team. As for the incident involving Trae Young at MSG, Thompson said: "I dare a m-fer to spit on me. I'll follow you to your house."

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 28, 2021

Thompson’s comments come after Kyrie Irving mentioned there was “subtle racism” among the Celtics fan base.

Celtics general manager Danny Ainge then responded to Irving’s comments, expressing concern that Irving’s comments could hurt the Celtics organization in the future.

Thompson joined the Celtics this past offseason, signing a two-year deal. During the regular season he averaged 7.6 points and 8.1 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per game, and in the first two games of the Celtics’ series against the Brooklyn Nets, he is averaging 9.5 points and 10.5 rebounds per game.

The Celtics are currently down 2-0 in their series against the Brooklyn Nets with Game 3 scheduled for Friday night at 8:30 p.m. EST in Boston.