Tempers flared in last night’s Grizzlies-Nets game after Ja Morant chose to direct his energy towards Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez on a pair of occasions in Memphis’ 135-119 victory.
After knocking a down a jumper at the end of the first half, the Grizzlies star made a point of walking down the court and staring Fernandez down. And that tone seemed to carry into the fourth quarter when words were exchanged — only this time Dennis Schroder and Taylor Jenkins got added to the mix.
Schroder, Morant and Jenkins were all hit with techs — which the Memphis coach really didn’t appreciate. But Fernandez saved his response for his postgame session with the media.
Jordi Fernandez on his interaction with Ja Morant:
“I will never speak to other players and I don’t want them to speak to me… I don’t want any interaction. I think it’s disrespectful and it’s not part of the game… Play with respect for the game.” pic.twitter.com/6XNMfoJ7Rp
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) December 14, 2024
“I will never speak to other [teams’] players, and I don’t want other [teams’] players to speak to me,” Fernandez told reporters after the loss. “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 are projecting to everybody else. Playing 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 cannot control others.”
Morant also gave his side of things via NBA on ESPN. Saying he was just “trolling.”
“On my end, I was trolling, just to get them riled up. And they did,” Morant explained. “It ain’t too much on my side. I even told the coach that, that I was trolling, so he was good. I don’t know what was said on their end to have coach [Jenkins] like that, but at the end I just went to make sure coach was good.”
“That’s energy, man,” he said of his actions after the halftime buzzer-beater. “… I didn’t say nothing crazy. If you look at the video, I was just saying ‘yeah.’ If ‘yeah’ is disrespectful or makes you feel some type of way, then hey, so be it.”
Friday night’s contest was the last matchup between the two teams this regular season but you just know neither side is going to forget this one the next time they meet.
Related: Prayers Pouring In For Grizzlies Coach Taylor Jenkins After Personal Loss