Ja Morant Allegedly Calls Klay Thompson a ‘Bum’ as Mavericks Guard Acts as Cooper Flagg’s Enforcer

Ja Morant is in the process of recovering from a calf strain that will keep him on the shelf for several more days. Despite his injury, the two-time All-Star remained highly engaged in the Memphis Grizzlies’ matchup against the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday.

After the Grizzlies pulled off a 102-96 victory at American Airlines Center, Morant exchanged some smack talk with Klay Thompson.

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“You a bum,” Morant appears to have told Thompson as team officials rushed to separate them.

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This heated moment originated from an incident late in the third quarter, when Grizzlies center Santi Aldama appeared to hold out his arm to trip Mavs rookie Cooper Flagg.

Thompson promptly stepped in to stand up for his teammate, who struggled from the field all game long and finished with 12 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal, and one block.

Morant got even more ammunition for his verbal shots when Thompson attempted to tie the game with 20.3 seconds left and the Grizzlies up 99-96. Thompson’s three-point shot missed, and the four-time NBA champion wound up fouling Grizzlies rookie Cedric Coward to stop the clock.

Thompson, who had struggled to score in weeks past, led the Mavericks with 22 points off the bench. He shot 6-for-12 from beyond the arc in a game where Dallas had a subpar 33.3% shooting clip from deep.

This is not the first time, of course, that Thompson and Morant have had a fiery encounter. Back when Thompson was playing alongside his fellow “Splash Brother” Steph Curry in Golden State, he participated in some intense playoff bouts against Morant, who was backed by his own enforcers like Desmond Bane and Dillon Brooks.

“Nothing of intelligent depth”: Klay Thompson takes more verbal shots at Ja Morant during post-game interview

Thompson is not known for his trash talk, but he continued to say some heated words aimed at Morant in his post-game media availability.

“Nothing of intelligent depth,” Thompson said of his verbal altercation with Morang. “It was really just running his mouth, and he’s been running his mouth for a long time, and it’s funny to run your mouth when you’re on the bench.”

Klay Thompson on his exchange with Ja Morant: “Nothing of intelligent depth. It was really just running his mouth, and he’s been running his mouth for a long time, and it’s funny to run your mouth when you’re on the bench. It’s kinda the story of his career so far… He’s just been letting a lot of other stuff get in the way of that…When you’re a star, it comes with great responsibility, and I hate to see that go to waste.”

Thompson, who entered the NBA eight years before Morant was selected second overall in the 2019 draft, added that the Grizzlies star was letting his career “go to waste” by allowing shenanigans eclipse his actual on-court contributions.

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Edited by Simoun Victor Redoblado