The Shady Side Of Tristan Thompson
Tristan Thompson plays many roles in life: an NBA star, a father of four, a devoted son, and a loving brother. Sadly, the narrative that Thompson is a serial cheater overshadows his otherwise non-controversial life so much that the only thing that people seem to associate with his name is infidelity. His on-again, off-again relationship with Khloé Kardashian, who happens to be one of the most talked-about women in the world, has served as an aggregator to the salacious headlines of his womanizing ways. Thompson subjected her to a lot of pain and heartbreak, but even Kardashian thinks it's sad that their relationship drama takes the center stage. "I also just think that you know, people do make mistakes," she said on a May 2022 episode of the "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast, adding, "He's still a good person, he's not a good partner to me." Oh, Khlo.
In the basketball world, Thompson is known for his impressive rebounds. The 6'9" Canadian baller, who won the 2016 NBA championships with Cleveland Cavaliers, signed with the Chicago Bulls after being traded by the Indiana Pacers in early 2022. Interestingly enough, the news came after he allegedly told someone he planned to retire from the NBA after she him with a paternity lawsuit. (We'll dissect that messy situation later.)
Even the Kardashian-Jenners couldn't keep up with the blitz of drama surrounding Thompson, but that didn't keep us from taking a plunge into his shady life.
The Khloé Kardashian and Jordan Craig overlap
In case you didn't know, Tristan Thompson's double-dribbling tendencies go way back, even before he first cheated on Khloé Kardashian. Before he started dating the "Keeping Up With The Kardashians" star in 2016, Thompson was in a years-long relationship with Jordan Craig, an influencer and lifestyle blogger. In 2016, they learned she was pregnant. Sadly, Thompson couldn't play fair: He started cheating on her with multiple women which ultimately led her to move out of their Cleveland home, per court documents obtained by Radar Online. "Tristan insisted he would change for our family, and tried to get back together on numerous occasions," Craig revealed.
And then Khloé Kardashian came into the picture. Reports of a budding romance started circulating after the paparazzi captured pictures of her and Thompson during their romantic vacation in Mexico. While the newly-minted couple soaked up the sun, Craig was dealing with unsavory tabloid reports surrounding her pregnancy and failed relationship. "My obstetrician ordered me to be on bed rest due to high levels of stress that eventually caused me to have serious pregnancy complications," she detailed in the aforementioned court documents. Meanwhile, reports claiming that Thompson cheated on Craig with Kardashian started to surface. Kardashian insisted Thompson was single when they met, but the netizens wouldn't buy it since Craig was pregnant with his baby when they hit it off.
He cheated on Khloé Kardashian when she was pregnant
As the narrative goes, Khloé Kardashian and Tristan Thompson's mutual friend set them up for a blind date in August 2016. Things progressed swiftly from that point — within less than a year, Kardashian was eager to build a family with him. "We've talked about it. He [already] is a father, and I know for a fact that he would be an impeccable father," she told ES Magazine before confessing that she would say yes if he proposed. Although Tristan didn't go down on one knee, they had a baby on the way by September 2017. Creating life with someone she truly loved had been a dream, but her fairy tale was about to take a sad turn.
Days before Kardashian was due, TMZ released footage of Tristan cheating on her with multiple women. Days later, sources told People that he had been cheating on her throughout her pregnancy. "And there will be more women to come out of the woodwork," one tipster said. After giving birth to their daughter, True Thompson, on April 12, 2018, Kardashian chose to bask in maternal bliss amid the betrayal. Somewhere down the line, she decided to give him a second chance. Things seem to be going well among the two, but that was until Tristan made out with Kylie Jenner's former BFF, Jordyn Woods, who was subsequently shunned by the Kardashian-Jenner brood. *Deep sigh.*
It's been said Tristan Thompson isn't around much
Messy cheating scandals aside, if we are to believe Khloé Kardashian's chat with Robin Roberts, Tristan Thompson is a good father, but there have been rumblings about how much time he doesn't spend with his firstborn, Prince Thompson. In 2018, Hollywood Life reported that a source close to Jordan Craig made some claims regarding his role as a dad. "Tristan is pretty much an absent father, although he regularly pays his child support, that is something he can't be faulted for," the tipster told the outlet. "But when it comes to the parenting of his son, it's pretty much all on Jordan." The source also alleged that Craig had made peace with Tristan not being around. In court documents obtained by Radar Online, Craig claimed Thompson saw Prince only nine times between 2016 and 2019.
All that said, Tristan is not totally absent from Prince's life. As People noted in 2021, the two watched "Space Jam: A New Legacy" together; that same year, the NBA star shared a pic of Prince and True Thompson hanging out.
Tristan once said that raising a boy is a lot different than raising a girl. "I think with a girl, you're just so much more emotionally like... with a boy, it's just like, 'Hey man, you'll be alright man. Stop crying," he said during the "Road Trippin'" podcast (via People). As for how he treats his daughter? It sounds like he is more sensitive and coddling.
Tristan Thompson's wandering ways never changed
We might be disappointed, but surprised? Pfft. In July 2020, People reported Khloé Kardashian had given her relationship with Tristan Thompson another chance. "Tristan is working hard to prove himself and has been a great dad to True," a source said. Thompson had showered Kardashian with love before the news broke, gushing about her Instagram on her 36th birthday. Kardashian had also forgiven him after he cheated on her with Jordyn Woods. "I am allowed to choose who I want in my life and who I do not. I'm also allowed to wish people well and sincerely mean it. Doesn't mean I have to be their best friend," she wrote in her Instagram Stories (via People). Little did she know that Thompson would humiliate her again.
To no one's surprise, Thompson betrayed Kardashian's trust. A source told Page Six that he had cheated on her with an Instagram model, but that was after he was seen taking three women to a bedroom at a party in Bel Air. "We all were talking about how badly we felt for Khloe and how he was going to embarrass her again," an insider said in the Daily Mail. Another source told E! News that Kardashian tried her best to repair their relationship. The verdict? Too many fouls to be ignored. "She's done and says she will not go back," E! News' tipster said.
Did Tristan Thompson sucker punch Draymond Green?
Here's your much-deserved break from Tristan Thompson's mind-boggling cheating drama. In 2018, Thompson reportedly socked the Golden State Warriors power forward, Draymond Green, at an ESPYs afterparty. According to The Athletic, LeBron James, who was the party host, and Kevin Durant supposedly had to intervene after Thompson allegedly attacked Green without warning. "It was a sucker punch. But, to be honest, it wasn't really a punch. It was more like a shove," a source told the outlet. After the tale made the internet rounds, Green took to Instagram Stories (via USA Today) to laugh off the whole thing. As far as he was concerned, the accounts circulating weren't totally true, but he mainly just wanted the story to die down for his mom's sake.
As for how the tension originally brewed between the ballers, it all started when Thompson was ejected from Game 1 of the NBA Finals in 2018. Green mockingly applauded as Thompson was about to leave the court. Thompson furiously looked at Green and shoved the ball in his face. Before Green could hit back, their team members pulled them apart and Thompson gestured for Green to step outside. Green did not even shake Thompson's hand after the final game that season.
According to The Athletic's insiders, whatever drama was brewing between the duo died down by the end of the party.
A paternity lawsuit against Tristan Thompson
In December 2021, the Daily Mail reported that Tristan Thompson had been hooking up with fitness model Maralee Nichols when he was still together with Khloé Kardashian. Thompson claimed that their relationship was solely physical and there was no emotional connection. Their affair eventually led to pregnancy, but according to Page Six, Thompson allegedly told Nichols to get an abortion and offered her $75,000 to keep quiet. Nichols hit him with a paternity suit and demanded he covered her medical bills. She also sued him for child support. Thompson disputed the paternity of the baby.
In January 2022, Thompson publicly admitted that a paternity test had confirmed he was indeed the father of Nichols' child and apologized to Khloé for humiliating her. "You don't deserve the way I have treated you over the years. My actions certainly have not lined up with the way I view you. I have the utmost respect and love for you," he shared in his Instagram Stories (via People).
As "The Kardashians" viewers saw, Kim Kardashian broke the news of the paternity lawsuit to Khloé, and understandably, Khloé (and the rest of the Kardashian-Jenners) were floored. Well, we know what happened next. In August 2022, People confirmed that Khloé and Thompson had welcomed their second child, a baby boy, via surrogate. According to the outlet, the baby was conceived in November 2021 when they were still an item. At least they're not back together.