Former Michigan Wolverines head coach John Beilein made the leap to the NBA this past offseason, signing on as the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. And following a highly publicized heated heated verbal exchange, the two insist that things are back to normal and have moved past it.
In fact, to make his point, Thompson even gave his coach a big hug during practice on Saturday before meeting with reporters.
“You know I love this guy,” Thompson said of Beilein.
“You came in right at that time,” Beilein responded with a smile. “Those things are going to happen in a game from time to time. It wasn’t anything, it wasn’t really … we moved on from it very quickly. He’s contrite about what happened, and he’s been such a team guy all year long. It’s over and done with.”
Thompson was benched by Beilein after the exchange. However, Thompson appears to have learned from the mistake.
“There was a lot going on in the game and I think I was just frustrated and voicing my frustration,” Thompson said. “Obviously, camera and media is going to make it bigger than it actually is. Me and coach talked about it and we’re good. He understands my passion for the game. I understand his passion for the game. It’s just family members getting into a quick discussion. It happens like anything. We’ve moved on.”
“At the end of the day he’s the coach and I’m the player,” Thompson said. “If I have something to say or want to get something off my chest there’s a better way of going about it. I wanted to apologize for that because at the end of the day that’s just who I am as a person, so it went well and just keep going.”
