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NBA FINALS: CAVALIERS v WARRIORS

June 19, 2016

Tristan Thompson

Oakland, California: Game Seven

Cavaliers 93, Warriors 89

Q. Congratulations.
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Thank you.

Q. Talk about what was in this team's soul, its DNA, that allowed you to become the first team ever to fall behind 3 games to 1 in The Finals and then come back to win it. Not only win it, win it on the road against the team that had the NBA record for the most regular season wins.
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Well, you've got to give Golden State a lot of credit. They're one hell of a team. They had a great season. But in terms of us being down 3-1, the percentages and whatnot, we don't play numbers in basketball. It's the first team to four wins, and guys believed in each other. We were down 3-1. You guys heard T. Lue and LeBron saying we've got to fly back to Cleveland, so might as well fly back with a win and keep the series going.

Q. Can you talk about the difference in this team pre Tyronn Lue's promotion and post promotion in terms of why he was the right guy to take this team to where it's gotten?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Well, I'm not going to sit here and say who is the right guy or whatnot. Coach Blatt did a great job. Last year made The Finals, fell short. That's a front office question. They do it as they do.

As players, our job is to play, play hard, compete, and win ballgames. So, you know, Coach Lue's done a great job with his NBA experience and kind of just knowing the grind and just being a former player. It was definitely easy to connect with him. But both coaches did a great job for me personally, and I'm just happy that we won a championship.

Q. What did you see from Ty particularly when you guys got down 3-1 in terms of just handling that stress, keeping you guys together, whatever it was?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: He kept his composure, and it starts from the top. The head of the snake is obviously T. Lue and LeBron and Kyrie. They kept their composure. As the other guys, your best players are still locked in and still know that this series is not over yet. For us other guys, we still feel good and we know that we've just got to take care of business to put ourselves in position to win and continue on to a series.

Q. Before the season started obviously you had some contract negotiations you had to work out. During that period, can you share some of the things that stood out to you as far as -- because everybody else was preparing and thinking this was going to be a championship season. What did they say to you during that time to try to keep you in the fold?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: What who said?

Q. Just teammates in general. Anybody that stood out to you?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: During the whole process, I guess when I missed training camp, it was just simple text messages. Guys just asking how I'm doing. At the end of the day, business is business. The contract situation, that's business. But the guys on the team, that's family. That's family, and they don't care about that. They just wanted to check on how I was doing. I asked them how's training camp? Is Coach Blatt still running the same things? It was pretty much the same thing and I didn't miss much, and I felt good once the deal was done.

Q. Is this what you always think about, winning the title, LeBron coming back, you knew there was a chance? Does it feel like you thought it was going to feel like now that you're here?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: I couldn't imagine it at all. Just reading the letter that LeBron wrote and just what he brought back to the city and just helped us as young guys not being on a team that was a Playoff team elevated my game so much and other guys'. I could never imagine it was going to be this sweet. But it's a great feeling. It's a great feeling.

Q. I think the score was tied 89-89, and Golden State gets out on a fast break and LeBron comes from seemingly nowhere. Kind of talk me through that play. Then also, how do you handle a team that is so good at making 5-0, 7-0 runs? How did you withstand that, especially these last three games?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: It's the NBA Finals. It's going to be a game of runs. It's two great ball clubs. Like you said, we were up by 5 at times, up by 6, and they kept chipping away. They make big plays, but it's The Finals. They're a really good team and can shoot the ball from the three-point line very well.

So definitely we knew we had to pull a full 48 together in order to win the ballgame, but with LeBron's chase-down block, big-time player, best player in the world makes big plays when we need it.

Q. LeBron was so emotional at the end. He was on the court with his head down in his hands. What do you think was going through his mind, and why do you think that moment really overtook him that way?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: I think it just goes back to growing up as a kid in northeast Ohio. Growing up in Akron, northeast Ohio. They've been through so much in terms of the sports industry with the Indians getting so close, and the Browns moving to Baltimore, and even with the Cavs when he was there originally. I think all those emotions and those thoughts of just working hard. Even the letter he wrote. To come back and win a championship for Cleveland, he wrote it, he's a bad man, and he got it done.

Q. He says he had to be really calm for the 14 other guys. What did that calmness do for the 14 other guys?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: It's huge. At the end of the day when your best player and your leader is calm, confident of the situation and really just still believes, the rest of us 14 guys, we feel good. And as a leader, that's what you have to do regardless of how you may feel. You have to do that for the betterment of the team.

Q. You guys dominated in the paint it seems like today. What was the key with the points in the paint advantage? Was it Bogut being out or was there an adjustment that you guys made in this game?
TRISTAN THOMPSON: Well, at the end of the day we all know how Bogut's presence on the court is always a factor, no matter what game it is. Bogut's a great shot blocker in our league. Him being 7 feet and big and mobile, when you're attacking the lane you always wonder where he is. So obviously he's a big part of their team, but when you've got guys that are great finishers at the rim like LeBron and Kyrie, as long as you set a good pick-and-roll and that's on the bigs, you have a good chance of them finishing or getting to the free-throw line.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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