NBA champion Tristan Thompson’s move from the hardwood to the high-tech world is exactly the kind of American reinvention we should celebrate. On My View with Lara Trump he spoke plainly about his journey into technology and his continued work with the Amari Thompson Fund, showing that athletes can be more than entertainers—they can be problem-solvers for real families.
Thompson has taken a formal role in the AI-driven medical research space, signing on as Chief Advisory Officer at AxonDAO, a platform promising to give patients more control over health data. This isn’t a vanity gig; Thompson has tied his professional pivot directly to helping his younger brother and others with complex medical needs.
Anyone watching his story up close knows why. Amari Thompson lives with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a severe form of epilepsy that left Tristan stepping in as caregiver after the family suffered a tragic loss, and Tristan long ago founded the Amari Thompson Fund to support epilepsy charities and families in need. Those are not press-release lines—they are the lived, hard facts behind his public work.
Conservatives should applaud this kind of personal responsibility: a grown man taking guardianship, protecting an inheritance, and turning pain into public service is the opposite of the entitlement-and-blame culture the left sells. Tristan didn’t wait for government programs or celebrity activists to take a bow; he acted like a father and a protector, and that kind of sacrifice deserves our respect, not sneers.
That said, patriotism isn’t naive support for every shiny tech promise. Thompson’s embrace of AI and decentralized medical research is hopeful, but Americans must remain vigilant about who controls sensitive health data and how it’s used. If AxonDAO and partners genuinely empower patients and protect privacy, great—but conservatives will rightly demand transparency, property rights over personal data, and protections from mission creep.
There’s also practical promise: Thompson has been involved in partnerships spotlighting mobility and accessibility for people with epilepsy, including outreach with the Epilepsy Foundation and initiatives tying tech like autonomous driving to caregiving solutions. Smart, targeted innovations that help families maintain independence are exactly the type of private-sector creativity that strengthens communities.
Don’t let anyone tell you public figures can’t be patriots. Tristan Thompson’s story is both a family story and a warning shot: use technology to serve people, don’t let it replace personal duty, and make sure private solutions remain accountable to the individuals they claim to help. Americans who believe in family, faith, and free enterprise should root for men who choose responsibility over spectacle.
