LeBron James’ former Cavaliers teammate unhappy with Sophie Cunningham’s disparaging comments about expansion

Tristan Thompson is the latest NBA player to defend the city of Cleveland after Sophie Cunningham’s comments. The Indiana Fever guard expressed her thoughts on the new WNBA expansion cities, suggesting that they might not have been the best choices. The veteran also talked about how players will feel about heading to those cities to play games.

Thompson has spent the vast majority of his NBA career with the Cavaliers. He helped the team bring Cleveland their first championship in 2016 alongside LeBron James. The center was never the biggest star on the team, but the fanbase embraced him wholeheartedly and he has become a revered member of the Cleveland community.

Thompson took to social media to respond to the Fever guard’s comments made before the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup championship game on Tuesday.

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"I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]," Cunningham said.

Thompson gave his own thoughts on Tuesday night, defending Cleveland and its viability as a home for one of the new WNBA teams in the future.

Tristan Thompson

@RealTristan13

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Cleveland is an unbelievable sports town, with great people, great restaurants, and its great for outdoor/nature activities . Still surprises me to see people say stuff like this

The city has a long sports history, serving a the home of the Cavaliers, Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Guardians for decades. There has already been a WNBA team in the city as well. The Cleveland Rockers played from 1997 to 2003 and were one of the original eight WNBA teams when the league was created.

Donovan Mitchell and Dan Gilbert defended Cleveland in their responses to Cunningham's comments

Thompson is not the only member of the Cavaliers to show love for the city of Cleveland amid Cunningham's negative comments. All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell and Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert joined the conversation, telling Cunningham that Cleveland could soon be a destination city for WNBA players, despite not being as big of a market as Miami or Nashville.

Dan Gilbert

@cavsdan

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Come on Sophie, obviously you haven’t been to Detroit or Cleveland… you should support your Midwest sisters in this league and these two great cities that you’re going to come to know and love very shortly.

Donovan Mitchell

@spidadmitchell

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Cleveland in the summertime 🔥🔥

Whether Cunningham supports the decision or not, Cleveland will be getting a WNBA team in 2028, the first of the new trio of teams joining the league over a three year stretch. The league has been committed to expansion over the past couple of years, adding the Golden State Valkyries to the WNBA this season.

Cunningham's comments are part of a larger conversation when it comes to the expansion of the WNBA. Some players are worried that the expansion draft and smaller rosters will affect just how competitive new teams can be in their first year of existence. The Valkyries are quieting those concerns so far this season, but as the league gets bigger, those problems become more glaring.

Regardless of how the league deals with it, expansion is seen as an opportunity to grow the WNBA alongside the NBA and bring women's basketball to new cities all over the country. While Cunningham's comments could be seen as concerning, the response from Thompson and others to them is encouraging.

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About the author

Zachary Howell

Zachary Howell is an NBA and WNBA journalist at Sportskeeda with a degree in Broadcast and Digital Journalism from Syracuse University and over a year of experience in the field.

Being introduced to the digital side of content inspired Zachary to become a writer, and his love of basketball made this an obvious transition.

His favorite team is the OKC Thunder, and Zachary started following them in 2011 when they were on the rise with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden. His favorite basketball players from the past are Tim Duncan, Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal. Those three came to define their eras of basketball and were dominant without beating their chests too much. Zachary is a big fan of quiet greatness and these three players are good embodiments of that.

When not writing or watching sports, Zachary enjoys reading and exercising, as well as gaming. He loves to be outside and spend time with friends and family, including his three dogs.

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