Tristan Thompson has reflected on the racism he faced while playing for the Boston Celtics, while praising his former teammate, Jaylen Brown.
During a recent interview with Shannon Sharpe's Club Shay Shay, the former NBA star was asked about the rumors surrounding Brown’s future in the NBA — and this was shortly before the news of the Celtics trading Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers broke.
"I love JBA… I’ve got to know JB very well," Thompson said of Brown, with whom he played for the Celtics in 2020-2021. "We played a year with the Celtics, but then, obviously, our relationship keep going since then. I think for him, it’s just frustrating, right?"
Brown has continually hit back at the media for covering rumors of Brown being traded to another team, something which Sharpe suggested is more of an issue with the Celtics than the media.
"The Fresh Prince ended at some point, all good stories end," said Thompson. "I think for him, he’s earned the right to lead his own team. And I think, because he's so embedded into [the] Boston community… he doesn’t want to leave. He wants to put part of that."
He added that Brown is the type of player who "wants to always beat the odds," and he likes him being a part of the team because he believes that Boston "needs change."
"When I played there, they call you the n-word," he said, which was met with shock from Sharpe. "They going to call you that. … When they drunk, they going to call you that. … I love Boston, they drink to get belligerently drunk."
He continued: "And you know when a muthafucka get really drunk, they going to be loose with the lips. And I definitely heard someone call me that outside of a restaurant ‘cause I didn’t want to take a picture with them."
