NBA stars Ja Morant and Klay Thompson traded personal insults after an incident Saturday night in Dallas.
In a game between the Memphis Grizzlies and Dallas Mavericks, Santi Aldama of the Grizzlies tripped Cooper Flagg of the Mavericks as Flagg, the No. 1 pick in this year’s NBA Draft, was running back downcourt.
Thompson - along with Flagg and Dallas coach Jason Kidd - objected and Thompson got in the face of Aldama and the two had to be separated.
After the Grizzlies won the game 102-96, Morant, in street clothes with a right calf strain, confronted Thompson as the teams were dispersing from the court.
“You a bum now," Morant was seen telling Thompson, a four-time NBA champion and five-time NBA All-Star now averaging 10.1 points for the 5-13 Mavericks.
Asked post-game what Morant said, Thompson responded: "He’s a funny guy with no accountability, Just running his mouth. It’s funny you run your mouth when you’re on the bench. It’s kinda been the whole story of his career so far.”
Morant has received two significant gun-related suspensions during. his career: an eight-game suspension in March 2023 for a social media video where Morant appeared to hold a handgun at a nightclub, and and a 25-game suspension to being the 2023-24 season after a second social media video showed him brandishing a firearm in a car.
“He’s just been letting a lot of other stuff get in the way of that,” Thompson said of Morant’s career. “…When you’re a star, it comes with great responsibility, and I hate to see that go to waste.”
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