Basketball player Tristan Thompson has been suspended without pay for 25 games after he violated the NBA’s anti-drug program.
The NBA confirmed on Tuesday, January 23, that Thompson, 32, tested positive for performance enhancing drugs Ibutamoren and SARM LGD-4033. His suspension will begin with the Wednesday, January 24, game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
Ibutamoren is a substance that is known for increasing levels of Human Growth Hormone (HGH) in the body, according to Sport Integrity. It has been banned in sport due to a wide range of dangerous side effects. Meanwhile, Ligandrol is a drug designed to facilitate strength and muscle building by enhancing the burning of body fat and increasing the user’s physical endurance.
Thompson has not yet publicly addressed his suspension from the Cleveland Cavaliers. He was originally drafted by the team in 2011 before winning a championship five years later. After nine years in Ohio, Thompson had short stints on the Boston Celtics, Sacramento Kings, Indiana Pacers and Chicago Bulls.
In April 2023, Thompson, known for his on-again, off-again romance with Khloé Kardashian, was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers. He ultimately returned to the Cavaliers for the 2023-2024 NBA season.
Throughout his NBA career, Thompson has consistently made headlines for his personal life. He started dating Kardashian, 39, in 2016 after his split from Jordan Craig as the former couple awaited the arrival of their son, Prince.
Thompson became a father again when Kardashian gave birth to daughter True. Days before True’s arrival in 2018, Tristan cheated on his then-pregnant girlfriend with multiple women. Kardashian and Thompson initially stayed together but split when he kissed her sister Kylie Jenner’s BFF Jordyn Woods in 2019.
Us Weekly confirmed in August 2020 that Kardashian and Thompson were giving their romance another chance. Less than one year later, they called it quits again. The pair briefly reconciled in late 2021 before ending it for good when Thompson welcomed a baby with another woman named Maralee Nichols. Us later confirmed Thompson and Kardashian’s surrogate was pregnant with their second child, son Tatum, at the same time of Thompson’s affair with Nichols.
Despite the multiple cheating scandals, Kardashian has remained friendly with Thompson, even allowing him to live with her when his mother died in January 2023.
“God does have a plan and God doesn’t want him to be alone right now. And why should he be? I just think this is what family does. When s—t hits the fan all you have is your family and Tristan and I are family. We are going to be family for the rest of our lives,” she said on a July 2023 episode of The Kardashians. “I am grateful that I am strong enough and brave enough to be a support system for someone else that has no other support system right now. You don’t have to treat me right for me to treat you right. That is not how I was raised.”
Thompson, for his part, got visibly emotional on the Hulu reality series while thanking the famous family for their support.
“Thank you so much — especially for me and my family — I don’t know what I would do without you guys,” he told Khloé, Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner. “You guys are so busy and have so much going on, I just hope I can continue blessing you guys with everything my mom would want for you.”
