Klay Thompson and Ja Morant went viral earlier last night after their back-and-forth towards the end of the Grizzlies’ game against the Mavericks. Thompson still seemed to carry over some frustrations from his past encounters with the team and called out Ja Morant for lacking accountability.
As Ja Morant reportedly called Klay Thompson “a bum,” we decided to investigate the numbers behind the rivalry. The Grizzlies guard has been shooting his career-low numbers this season, which have been consistently declining since 2021-22, when he had his career-high numbers.
In 2021-22 (his best season), he shot 49.3% from the field and 34.4% from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, this season, at age 26 (which is supposed to be among a star player’s prime years in the league), Morant is averaging 35.9% from the field and 16.7% from beyond the arc. He is currently sidelined due to a right calf strain.
On the other hand, Klay Thompson had a career-high 48.4% from the field in 2017-18, where he also shot 44% from the field in his prime. And now, he’s shooting 34.7% from the field and 32.1% from the three-point line at age 35 in a declining trajectory of his career.
Moreover, Klay Thompson has a career average of 86.1% from the free-throw line, while Morant has a 77.2% efficiency at that.
Additionally, in terms of sheer playing availability, since Thompson tore his Achilles in November 2020, Morant has only played in 202 regular season games and 22 postseason games (224 total).
Ja Morant has only been to the All-Star Game twice, while Thompson has been selected for it five times. It is really appalling to hear Ja Morant call a four-time NBA champion like Klay Thompson ‘a bum,’ especially while attending a game in street clothes.
Morant has been to the playoffs only four times in his career, winning only seven of his 22 games played. Meanwhile, Thompson has won as many championships as many times as Morant has taken his team to the Playoffs.
Meanwhile, Klay Thompson has played 267 regular season games alone after missing over half the 2021-22 season while recovering from the injury. And that count would be 302 games played if we count his 35 postseason games as well.
Not to mention, Thompson has been a FIBA World Cup gold medalist and an Olympic gold medalist while also holding several of the NBA’s records for shooting from beyond the three-point line.
This shows that not only in terms of showing up, but also in terms of efficiency in their best years, Klay Thompson was a lot more consistent. Despite being on the tail end of his career, he is suiting up every time his team has needed him.
What Klay Thompson Said About The Grizzlies’ Trash-Talk
Following their comments, which were directly addressing each other, Klay Thompson also spoke about the Grizzlies franchise’s history as well as what he feels about them.
“I do actually have a lot of respect for the Grind House,” Thompson said. “Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol. That was a hard team to beat. This new team, though? They just talk a lot. They’ve always talked a lot. They’ve never really backed it up, either,” he further added.
“I don’t really respect that. I respect guys who back up the talk with play. Because talk is cheap, I know that better than anybody. I have been in this league a long time,” said Thompson in conclusion.
This recent Ja Morant-led team caught Thompson’s eye following the 2021-22 series, where Thompson’s former team, the Warriors, beat the Grizzlies in six games. Subsequently, his viral interaction with the Grizzlies bench with a former Grizzlies player, Dillon Brooks, in March 2023, birthed the famous four rings taunt that Thompson used at the time.
Therefore, Thompson has seen a fair share of the modern-day Grizzlies led by Ja Morant, and clearly, he believes that all they do is talk and that their opinions don’t count here when they don’t have the resume to speak for it.
