Tristan Thompson reveals what gave him the confidence to date Khloe Kardashian

Tristan Thompson is reflecting on the beginning of his relationship with Khloé Kardashian.

Thompson and Kardashian began dating in 2016 and were on and off until their 2021 split. During the NBA champion's appearance on Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast, he revealed what made him confident enough to begin dating the reality star.

“When you date someone that’s in the camera and, like, have, people, high profile, right? You have to understand, you’re under a magnifying glass,” Thompson said. “And I think, when you’re on the best team in the NBA, you’re under a microscope. You’re under all these sports, right? But now this is more pop culture and global.”

He then went on to share that while the "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" star had a spotlight on her due to the E! reality show that aired for over a decade, he shared that he didn't let it dim his accomplishment. 

“So you gotta really move, a certain way. And obviously, me being 25, being so young, and just winning a championship, you’re young and you’re naive, and you’re just, like, enjoying life. You’re like, ‘Okay, I’m dating this woman that’s very popular, but it’s like, shoot, I’m popular. I’m on the best team in the NBA.’ So in my head, I’m like, ‘Who else you gonna be with? I’m a stud. You see me? I got 16 and 14 in Game 6… It’s meant to be,'” he added.

Their relationship went on for about five years and continued to make headlines due to Thompson's infidelities. His cheating is what ultimately led to their split in 2021 when he fathered a child outside of their relationship. Thompson and Kardashian share two children together.

How is Tristan Thompson and Khloé Kardashian's relationship now?

Besides the ups and downs of Thompson and Kardashian's relationship, they have put up a united front in co-parenting their children. The former couple welcomed their daughter True in 2018 and son Tatum in 2022. 

Kardashian shared back in 2022 that the NBA star is a good father, but just that their romance couldn't work out.

"I still think he’s a great guy and a great dad," Kardashian told Entertainment Tonight at the time. "He’s just not the guy for me."

Thompson is also the father to sons Prince Oliver with ex-girlfriend Jordan Craig, and Theo with fitness model Maralee Nichols. The Cleveland Cavaliers alum shared back in April how the mothers of his children all get along and that they work together.

"We're all friends. We're all family," he said on "The Katie Miller" podcast. "At the end of the day, we're all family. We all have each other's contact info. We're all in a great place because I think that's the number one thing."

"No matter how you chop it up and no matter how you want to put it together, we're all tied together," he added. "We're all family, and our kids are all siblings, and they're going to be in each other's lives for a long time."

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