Tristan Thompson says Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls gave up around Games 2 and 3 against LeBron James and the Cavaliers in 2015.
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While LeBron James may not have fulfilled his promise to bring more than 7 championships to the Miami Heat, he did get himself two solid titles and Finals MVPs under his belt. After achieving what he set out to do in the summer of 2010, the prodigal son of Cleveland returned to ‘The Land’ to deliver what he promised them 11 years prior.
The 2014-15 Cleveland Cavaliers finished 2nd behind a team that featured 4 All-Stars in the Eastern Conference and were 3 wins better than Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls. After what seemed like a healthy D Rose was gearing up for the Playoffs, it felt as though it could be their year to advance further than ever before.
Unfortunately for Joakim Noah and company, they would lose the series in 6 games. Everything from a missed technical foul call on David Blatt to a deflating LeBron James game-winner, the Bulls had a chance to go up 3-1 but instead lost 3 games in a row.
Tristan Thompson on him and LeBron James facing the Bulls in the 2015 East Semis.
Tristan Thompson, who was on that Cavaliers team and is now a member of the Chicago Bulls alongside DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, was asked about facing his current team 7 years ago. Thompson wasted no time in bashing the Derrick Rose iteration of the Bulls in 2015, saying they had given up by around Games 2 and 3.
The timeline for that does not add up in the slightest because if they had given up, they would’ve done after missing a chance to go up one and instead losing to a game-winner from LeBron James. They played their hearts out in Game 5 too before getting blown out in Game 6.
Thompson also dropped intriguing nugget about the 2014-15 Bulls, which the Cavaliers beat in conference semifinals.
“We had more heart and fight than those guys. I think some of their players quit by Game 2 or 3. I won’t say their names.” https://t.co/Hi1NMolCFp
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) April 15, 2022
Funnily enough, the Cavs lost to the Hawks last night in the Eastern Conference play-in, resulting in the Hawks Twitter account saying they took revenge for losing in the ECF in 2015. The Bulls on the other hand, have a date with the defending champ Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.
