NBA star Tristan Thompson is reported to have admitted to having a “sporadic,” ongoing sexual relationship with Maralee Nichols, the woman who is suing him for child support and pregnancy-related fees after she said they conceived a child together.
In a court document filed earlier this month and published by the Daily Mail, the NBA star Tristan Thompson who has disputed the paternity of the child, born December 1st 2021, recalled meeting Nichols in late November or early December 2020 at someone’s home
At the time, he said he “was very cautious” and “did not foresee that she and I could have any type of relationship.”
He also denied having sex with her in California around that time, claiming that the “only” possible date of conception for the child is March 13, 2021, Thompson’s birthday. Nichols has said the child was conceived in April, per the document
NBA star Tristan Thompson 30, also repeatedly asserted that his relationship with Nichols was “based on sex only.”
“We did not have a serious ongoing relationship. We saw each other sporadically between December 2020 and March 13, 2021,” he wrote. “[Nichols] told me that she had been involved with other athletes and understood the limitations of our relationship; to wit, that we might see each other on a sporadic basis for consensual sex only.”
“We did not have any dates in the traditional sense at any time; there were no dining at restaurants, going to movies, travelling or any other indicia of a normalized relationship,” he later added.
“There was only Snapchats of ‘where’ and ‘what time’ we would hook up and what hotels would be used.”
NBA star Tristan Thompson denied sending the Snapchat messages between him and Nichols that have been made public via other court documents, claiming that they were fabricated. He also said they only communicated via the Snapchat application and that they never “exchange[d] text messages.”
One of the alleged messages Nichols referenced in her filings said he would soon be retiring from his NBA career and thus be unable to pay ample support, while another allegedly suggested Nichols get an abortion.
During the time that Thompson admits to having a sexual relationship with Nichols, he was publicly dating Khloé Kardashian, with whom he shares 3-year-old daughter True. (He also has a son, Prince, 4, with ex-girlfriend Jordan Craig.)
On his birthday in March the date he says would have been the time of conception if Nichols’ child is his — Kardashian posted a loving tribute to her then-boyfriend, calling Thompson her “best friend.”
“The ones that are meant to be are the ones who go through everything that is designed to tear them apart and they came out even stronger than they were before,” she wrote in part.
Kardashian and Thompson had an on-and-off relationship for years before splitting most recently in June. Amid the current drama surrounding his infidelity, a source told PEOPLE that the Good American mogul is “moving on” and focusing on co-parenting True.
“Tristan and Khloé have been broken up for a while, and things are okay between them,” the insider said.