Late in the first half of the Memphis Grizzlies’ 135-119 victory over the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, Ja Morant hit a mid-range jumper as time expired and proceeded to walk back toward the Nets bench. looking directly at Brooklyn coach, Jordi Fernández, as he passed.
Who knows why Morant decided to direct his celebration so clearly at Fernandez, but it was brazen and unnecessary. Fast forward to the end of the game, and Morant is still taunting Fernandez and the Brooklyn bench and Dennis Schroder, for example, was not happy.
Let’s take it one mockery at a time. First, here’s Morant’s shot to end the first half and his subsequent stare-down at Fernandez.
Now here is Morant exiting the game late in the fourth quarter and continuing to bark at the Nets bench and Fernandez. You can see Fernandez and Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins bond, then Schroder attacks Jenkins and clearly says something that the Memphis coach didn’t appreciate. That increased tension and technical fouls were called on both sides.
You can see (and hear!) how heated Jenkins was after the magic words Schroder told him, but it was Jenkins’ player who initiated this deal. Let’s remember that.
Fernández, for his part, was a little more diplomatic.
“I will never talk to others [teams’] players, and I don’t want others [teams’] players to talk to me,” Fernández said after the game. “If they want to be nice, obviously it’s part of the game.” [to interact]. If not, I don’t want any interaction. I think it’s disrespectful. It’s not part of the game. That’s what we’re projecting to everyone else. Play with respect, respect for the game, whether you are a superstar or whoever you are. That’s what I want my players to do, what I do myself. “I can’t control others.”
That is an elegant response from Fernández, who also had the respect of denounce Schroder’s actions and words towards Jenkins, after what was quite anti-class behavior on the part of Morant, who, for his part, took no responsibility for his involvement in the fight. In fact, Morant happily stated that he actually accomplished his goal of annoying Brooklyn at the end of the game by saying, “I was trolling, just to irritate them, and I did.”
As for Fernandez’s stare at the end of the first half, Morant said, “That’s energy, man… I didn’t say anything crazy. If you watch the video, I was just saying ‘yeah.'” If ‘yes’ is disrespectful or makes you feel any way, then so be it.”
That’s an evasion by Morant. Yes, it’s natural to feel excited after ringing the bell, but you can direct your energy and celebration in many ways without staring at the opposing coach as you walk past them. All, or most of us, like to talk trash and we appreciate as fans seeing the energy of the players. This is simply unnecessary and reflects poorly on Morant, even if he doesn’t realize it.
