Learning from the past? Amid Tristan Thompson’s paternity scandal and its ongoing drama, he shared a cryptic message about moving forward.
“Let the past guide you rather than making you feel guilty,” the professional basketball player, 31, shared the anonymous quote via his Instagram Story on Wednesday, March 16. “Let the future excite you rather than making you feel anxious. Let the present be a gift to you to feel alive rather than a curse that makes you live in the past or future.”
While Thompson did not further address the meaning behind his social media upload, he added two speaking head emojis to his Story.
The Canada native’s cryptic post comes on the heels of his ongoing paternity scandal. News broke in December 2021 that fitness trainer Maralee Nichols sued Thompson for child support after learning she was expecting a baby with the athlete. Nichols, 31, gave birth to son Theo several weeks later before Thompson acknowledged his paternity.
“I take full responsibility for my actions,” the former Cleveland Cavaliers player — who shares daughter True, 3, with ex-girlfriend Khloé Kardashian and son Prince, 5, with ex Jordan Craig — wrote via Instagram Story in January after a DNA test confirmed he was Theo’s father. “Now that paternity has been established I look forward to amicably raising our son. I sincerely apologize to everyone I’ve hurt or disappointed throughout this ordeal both publicly and privately.”
In her lawsuit, Nichols had alleged that the basketball player said he was single when they met in 2020. However, he was still in a relationship with the Good American cofounder, 37, at the time. (Us Weekly confirmed in June 2021 that Thompson and Kardashian called it quits for a second time after reconciling amid the coronavirus pandemic.)
“Khloé, you don’t deserve this,” Thompson added in his January Story. “You don’t deserve the heartache and humiliation I have caused you. You don’t deserve the way I have treated you over the years.”
Nichols alleged in a new court filing earlier this month that the Chicago Bulls player told her that he was engaged to the Keeping Up With the Kardashians personality amid her pregnancy.
“You literally just told me you are engaged and are trying to be with your family,” Nichols allegedly texted Thompson per court docs obtained by Us. “I didn’t even know you were engaged. You have a record of treating me like absolutely crap and this whole situation has been upsetting.”
Thompson allegedly replied: “I’m engaged but I will be married soon. I told you I won’t and can’t be in the child life at all by no means … Why not wait till yoj [sic] find the right person to have a family with. Why would you want a baby with a man that’s engaged. You wanna keep a mistake.”
Thompson and Kardashian, for their parts, have been focused on coparenting True since their split, which is set to be showcased on her family’s upcoming series, The Kardashians.
“I wish I never had to talk about that because it’s not a fun thing to talk about,” the former Revenge Body host told Variety in an interview published earlier this month. “But it is part of my journey in life, so we will see it on the show.”
The Hulu reality series, which premieres on April 14, teased the “complicated” relationship between Thompson and Kardashian in a Tuesday, March 15, trailer. In the footage, the reality TV star told the NBA athlete that “trust takes time.”
