Klay claps back at Morant’s postgame trash talk

DALLAS — Klay Thompson is tired of hearing Ja Morant talk so much.

Morant, who missed his third straight game because of a calf strain, verbally confronted Thompson after the final buzzer of the Memphis Grizzlies’ 102-96 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night.

Security staffers and coaches from both teams separated the players to prevent the situation from escalating, but the tension between them has been simmering since at least the 2022 playoffs, when Thompson helped the Golden State Warriors eliminate the Grizzlies en route to earning his fourth NBA championship.

«He’s a funny guy,» Thompson said. «He has a lot to say all the time, especially for a guy who rarely takes accountability.»

Thompson was involved in a couple of altercations with other Memphis players during the game. He confronted Grizzlies forward Santi Aldama for tripping Dallas rookie Cooper Flagg, a foul that was upgraded to a flagrant 1 after a review. Thompson and Grizzlies wing Vince Williams Jr. were both assessed technical fouls later for talking trash.

But Thompson’s harshest words were directed at Morant after the game.

After Morant and Thompson exchanged words, Morant walked over to Grizzlies guard Cam Spencer during the team broadcast’s postgame on-court interview and took a jab at Thompson, who had a season-high 22 points in the loss but missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer with 20.6 seconds remaining.

«Tell him who the best shooter in the house was,» Morant said to Spencer. «It wasn’t bruh from Golden State.»

Thompson described Morant’s on-court comments as «nothing of intelligent depth,» and then alluded to the off-court issues, suspensions and injuries that have marred Morant’s career since he made consecutive All-Star appearances in 2022 and 2023.

«It was really just running his mouth, and he’s been running his mouth for a long time,» Thompson said. «It’s funny to run your mouth when you’re on the bench. It’s kind of the story of his career so far, just leaving us wanting more.

«We all want to see him out there and do his best, but he’s just been letting a lot of other stuff get in the way of that. We need that in the NBA. We need our best players to be out there, and when you’re a star, it comes with a great responsibility. I hate to see that go to waste.»

Morant has served suspensions in each of the past three seasons: The league suspended him for eight games in 2022-23 and 25 games in 2023-24 for flashing handguns on Instagram Live streams. The Grizzlies suspended him one game for conduct detrimental to the team earlier this season after a confrontation with coach Tuomas Iisalo.

Morant, 26, is in the midst of his worst statistical season, averaging 17.9 points while shooting 35.9% from the floor and 16.7% from 3-point range.

Thompson said Aldama’s flagrant foul, which occurred in the backcourt as Flagg attempted to run up the floor, reminded him of «dirty stuff» the Grizzlies did during the 2022 playoff series against the Warriors, specifically a flagrant foul by ex-Memphis forward Dillon Brooks that resulted in Warriors wing Gary Payton II suffering a broken elbow.

Thompson, 35, who has accepted a reserve role in Dallas and struggled this season, said he had great respect for the Grit ‘n Grind era Grizzlies teams but not for the more recent rosters in Memphis.

«They just talk a lot,» Thompson said. «They’ve always talked a lot. And never really backed it up either, so I don’t really respect that. I respect guys who back up the talk with play because talk is cheap.»