Tristan Thompson says someone followed him home after 2016 Cavs parade: ‘He knocked at my door’

Cleveland Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson revealed a wild story about a fan following him home after the Cavs’ championship parade in 2016.

Thompson detailed the story in a conversation with his current teammate Darius Garland for Cleveland Magazine. Garland, the Cavs’ star point guard, asked Thompson for his craziest interaction with a fan in his career.

“I’ve had so many, bro,” Thompson said. “After the [championship] parade, a car followed me home. He was, like, 60 or 70, an older man. He just wanted to take a picture. He knocked at my door, and at first, I’m like, ‘Man, what was this, like, a Jehovah Witness? ‘Are you ready for Jesus to come save you?’’ But he just wanted a selfie. So I took one with him.”

Garland responded.

“At your front door, though?” he asked.

Thompson continued.

“Yeah,” he said. “At first I was going to knock him out, but I just realized he was old, but [if] he was like 40, I would have knocked him out. But 60? You gotta let gramps slide. But that was a crazy interaction.”

While Thompson’s story might have been a little scary for him at first, it just goes to show how important the 2016 championship was to Cavs fans.

That season, the Cavs erased a 3-1 series deficit against the Golden State Warriors in the championship series. They became the first team to ever come back from a 3-1 deficit to win the NBA Finals, and the title marked the first in the franchise’s history.

Thompson played a critical role for the Cavs in the playoffs in the 2015-16 season. He appeared in 21 games, started all of them and averaged 6.7 points, 9.0 rebounds and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 52.7 percent from the field.

A first-round pick by Cleveland in the 2011 NBA Draft, Thompson went to four straight Finals with the Cavs from the 2014-15 season through the 2017-18 campaign.

Now, in the later stages of his career, Thompson is a steadying veteran presence for the Cavs. Cleveland is currently the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, and a new core of Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen has put Cleveland in contention for a title this season.

Thompson hasn’t played much for the Cavs this season, appearing in 36 games and averaging 7.1 minutes per night. Still, he could end up helping the team in the playoffs since he has so much experience from his earlier days with the Cavs.