Tristan Thompson Filled Collin Sexton's Lexus With 12 Bags of Popcorn Since He Was 12 Donuts Short
As former Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Delonte West once told J.J. Hickson: “I don’t care if you have to fly. Planes, trains and automobiles. You better have my donuts.”
On Sunday, Cavs point guard Collin Sexton learned that lesson the hard way.
In what’s been a long-standing tradition for rookies around the NBA, Sexton has been tasked with providing his teammates with donuts. But prior to the Cavs’ Sunday matinee matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers, the 19-year-old fell short of his expectations, leading to an unlikely punishment from center Tristan Thompson.
In a video posted to his Instagram story, Thompson revealed that he had filled Sexton’s Lexus — a $50,000 car — with 12 bags of popcorn as retaliation for the Alabama product falling short of feeding the entire team.
Sexton’s offense? According to a note left on his car, he only provided 12 donuts instead of the standard 24 — hence the 12 bags of popcorn that occupied his car.
“There are 12 popcorn bags in your vehicle which represent the number of doughnuts you have failed to provide on game days,” the sign read. “We require 2 dozen doughnuts on game days, not a dozen.”
Look, Collin Sexton is 19 years old. He only attended college for one year, and while I’m sure he hit the books really hard at Alabama, he still has a lot of learning left to do. Luckily, Tristan Thompson is there to help him. And one of those lessons Sexton must’ve missed in Tuscaloosa was either counting (usually a junior level course at Bama) or responsibility. Both of which Thompson took upon himself to teach the young man yesterday by filling up his car with 12 bags of popcorn, one for each donut he was short.
“Bring enough donuts, or this is what happens. Respect will be had! Duties will be done!” Well said, Tristan. Who cares if it’s just donuts. Do your job, or there will be repercussions. And I’m sorry that it cost Sexton that fresh smell inside his $50,000 Lexus, but this is now a lesson he won’t forget.
While this lesson can be transferred across all aspects of life, not just rookie hazing, it does appear that getting donuts isn’t just some rookie duty that Tristan Thompson created for the Cavs. This dates back to at least 2008, when JJ Hickson was a rookie in Cleveland. Hickson’s veteran mentor, the well-respected Delonte West, had to remind Hickson from time to time that getting donuts for the team was part of his job description. I mean, have you heard a better line than, “I don’t care if you have to fly. Planes, trains and automobiles. You better have my donuts.”
What a well spoken young man. I see where LeBron gets it from. Anyways, as much as I love the move from Thompson to teach the rook a thing or two about responsibility, it does appear that this fun loving attitude the team has taken on may be a little much. Remember, we’re still 7-23 on the year. The Eastern Conference doesn’t appear to be running through Cleveland this year, so maybe we should curb the joking just a little bit? I like the hazing. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the hazing. But let’s keep the jokes off the court. Because when Sexton and Thompson’s antics continued onto the court last night, as Sexton threw his hands up for a pass while sitting on the bench, Channing Frye threw a pass right out of bounds.
Hilarious! Maybe our team is full of pranksters. That would explain our joke of a season.
