Mavs' Thompson scoffs at Morant's trash talk after Grizzlies' win - ESPN

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

Morant, who missed his third straight game due to 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 ring.

«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 confrontations 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 after an exchange of trash talk.

But Thompson's harshest words were directed at Morant post-game.

After the confrontation between them, Morant walked over to Grizzlies guard Cam Spencer during the team broadcast's walk-off interview, dapping up Spencer and taking 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 to him moments earlier as «nothing of intelligent depth,» and then alluded to the off-court issues, suspensions and injuries that have marred Morant's career