Usually, when a player utilizes performance-enhancing drugs, their performance improves beyond scoring 3.8 points per game. Not so with Tristan Thompson.
The NBA announced that Thompson tested positive for ibutamoren, a banned substance that increases levels of human growth hormone, and ligandrol, a banned substance that mimics the effects of testosterone. He will be suspended for 25 games, which will keep him out until mid-March.
Thompson had a remarkable journey back to the NBA in the past year. After playing for three teams in the 2021-22 season, Thompson was out of the league last season. His NBA career seemed over, especially after Kris Jenner, mother of his on-and-off partner Khloe Kardashian, got him a job as an analyst on ESPN’s “NBA Today.”
But then the Los Angeles Lakers signed Thompson as a depth piece just before the playoffs. Thompson didn’t play a single regular-season game, but he appeared in six games against the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets, scoring 11 points and grabbing ten rebounds.
That earned him a non-guaranteed deal with his old team, the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he’s averaged 3.8 points and 3.9 rebounds in just over 12 minutes per game. Since Evan Mobley was injured, Thompson has played significant minutes as Cleveland’s primary backup big man. In his absence, that likely becomes the role of Damian Jones.
Thompson reached the NBA Finals four times as LeBron James’ teammate in Cleveland, winning a title in 2016. He’s also well-known for his relationship with Kardashian, with whom he has two children. Some of his tabloid infamy comes due to multiple affairs he’s had with other women while ostensibly with Kardashian, including having a child with another woman.
Now Thompson won’t just be known for cheating on a Kardashian. He’ll be known for cheating at basketball as well.
