I've played center, power forward. Wherever I can help my team be successful, whether that's playing power forward or center, I'm going to come out and do my job. Nothing changes.
— Tristan Thompson
The same fans that want to rip you up are the same fans that want to talk you up and want your autograph.
You never know what's going to happen throughout the course of a season.
At the end of the day, we play for the community. They come out there and parents spend their hard-working money to come support us and fill the stadium, so it's only right to give back.
This is what being an athlete's all about, being able to give back to our community, the people that support us night in, night out.
We all have our motivations in life and for me, it's my kids. They push me every day and keep me going. It gives me that extra motivation that I need.
I understand my teammates. I know which teammates you can get on during the game, and which respond better to constructive criticism.
I started playing basketball at such a late age.
That's one of the reasons I was drafted because I blocked three shots a game in college so I got to continue doing that in the NBA.
Whether I'm starting or coming off the bench, bigs have to protect the rim and can't give nothing easy to nobody.
Guard some point guards, late shot clock, hopefully they miss.
Let LeBron be LeBron.
It's the little things. That's kind of what I bring to the table in terms of doing things that might not show up in the box score. Diving for a loose ball, or switching out on a guard and getting that big stop, cutting someone's water off if they've made a couple shots.
I'm a green guy, the earth is important to me.
My favorite movie is 'Coming to America.' It's a great movie! Eddie Murphy. Arsenio Hall. It kind of reflects my life - being from Canada and coming to America. I can kind of relate to it.
For bigs, we usually have three simple moves - and the hook-shot is one of those moves that's a forgotten art. But it's always been an effective move in our league.
It was more my uncle - my mom's brother - and my aunt who turned me on to hoops. He was more into basketball and he'd take me to Raptors games. And then my dad started taking me with him. And I started falling in love with the game.
As long as we win, that's all that matters and everything else will take care of itself.
I try to attack the glass, get rebounds and create possessions for my teammates because that's what I'm here to do. But if they face guard or put two or three guys on me I'm going to keep going to the glass and keep being relentless.
I don't really pay attention to the guy I outwork for the rebound, it's really just hearing the crowd just be like, 'Ohhhhh.' They just get frustrated. That's a good feeling.
Me being blessed, you need to bless others.
We've all got different ways to deal with adversity as pros, but if you want it and you want to be great, you've got to make it happen and fight through it.
My whole goal is just to be professional every day.
Guys see that I come to work every day, punch the clock. They see that, and I think my voice is respected because of it.
Coming off the bench, I'm able to view the game, see how their bigs are playing. And what I bring to the table is energy. The starters go in and run their bigs for a bit. When I check in it's time to punch the clock and play hard.
I know I can block shots and I've got to do it. That's part of my job as a big.
If I'm not on the court, I have to be there to cheer my teammates on and from the sideline be there mentally and keep guys locked in and focused.
Just play hard, compete, energy, hit the offensive glass.
In the draft you always have a special bond and connection, especially if you have one that goes right after you, so it's kind of always, I guess everybody thinks you're competing.
If a guy is shooting a shot in the corner 70 percent of the missed shots usually come off that other side and 30 percent hits off the front rim so just playing the percentages and kind of studying your teammates' shots throughout the course of the game.
If I was stuck on an island with one artist's discography, it'd probably be Jay-Z's. It would keep me entertained and it has a lot of stories behind it.
Coach Blatt's been great! He comes with a worldly dynamic and I think that's what our game has been lacking. He's coached and played all over the world, so his perspective on the game of basketball is kind of different from most traditional NBA coaches. But at the same time, it makes it interesting and exciting.
You have to get better every year. You have to add tools to the toolbox every year.
I think when I moved to the United States and saw how serious basketball was and how good I was compared to everyone else. You just came from Canada and you're top five in the country; you're young and everyone says you can be a pro. That's when I started thinking: if I work hard, the dream can come true.
Ever since I joined the Cavilers, my job has always been the same. I just come out and play hard. Be a hard hat guy, punch in the clock and just play my game. That's not going to change.
My goal is simple - try and make sure my guy doesn't score. And if he does, make sure it's a contested two, or a tough shot.
I'm doing whatever my team needs me to be. Whether it's play hard, screen-and-rolling, ducking in, whatever the team needs me to do to be successful, that's all that I care about.
I come from a family where some nights you don't know where food's going to come from. There's nights where you're going to have go to bed hungry.
Without the community, as pro athletes, we're nothing, so I feel it's important to give back and definitely connect with supporters the fans and the people that help us earn our living.
This is the NBA. Everyone can score points.
Basketball is definitely basketball and that's what we love to play, but in the NBA, there's a business side of it. It's a very serious matter and it's important. It's important to me, it's important to my family.
Whatever the team needs me to do to help us succeed, that's what I'm about.
I'm not going to change my game.
The one bad thing sometimes when you switch 1 through 5, guys think it's easier and they relax. You have to be just as aggressive. If we're going to switch 1 through 5 we got to meet that point of entry at the ball and be physical.
Play good basketball and you are going to get guys' best games.
What I really lick my chops for is when you get the offensive rebounds at the end of the third quarter, fourth quarter. That really just sucks the life out of the opponent. You can see it in their face, especially when you're on the road, it just takes the whole energy out of the arena. That's what I live for.
Obviously, Steve Nash making the NBA and becoming a two-time MVP gave us the hope that if we work hard, we might have a chance to just be in the NBA. Seeing his success gave us hope.
Yeah, I definitely like broadcasting. And I'm looking forward to getting into it when my career is done.
I think playing the 5 is an advantage for me. I'm much quicker than a lot of the other centers in our league.
My dad, he always played soccer.
