Klay Thompson reignites heated rivalry sparked previously with Warriors

Klay Thompson and the Dallas Mavericks walked away with another home loss against the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night, but it was the veteran sharpshooter's re-ignition of a rivalry during his time with the Golden State Warriors that was the biggest talking point emerging from the game.

Thompson and Grizzlies star Ja Morant got into it despite the latter having been in street clothes on the sidelines. It stems from a brief albeit noted rival between the Warriors and Grizzlies -- one that reached its apex when the two teams squared off in the 2022 Western Conference semi-finals.

Klay Thompson reignited his rivalry with Ja Morant and the Grizzlies

Golden State eventually overcame Memphis in six games on their way to the championship, but not before some physical and verbal altercations that went up a notch when Dillon Brooks produced a hard and unsportsmanlike foul on Gary Payton II during the first quarter of Game 2.

Brooks may be long gone having since played for the Houston Rockets and now the Phoenix Suns, but Thompson clearly still associates it with the Grizzlies in a play that left Payton with a fractured elbow.

"I’ve seen them do dirty stuff before. I remember in the playoffs, 2022, they broke my teammates elbow on a dirty hit," Thompson said (via Noah Weber of The Smoking Cuban). "And then with Ja, he’s a funny guy. He has a lot to say all the time, especially for a guy who rarely takes accountability, but you know, that’s for another day.”

The strange aspect to Morant's taunting of Thompson is that it came after the 5x All-Star's best game of the season from a scoring standpoint. Thompson's form has been underwhelming to say the least and has pushed him back into a bench role for the Mavericks, but he did lead them in scoring on Saturday with 22 points on 6-of-12 shooting from 3-point range in nearly 28 minutes.

The 4x NBA champion is still averaging just 10.1 points on 32.1% 3-point shooting for the season, yet he is showing signs of life in rising to 14.0 points on 36.6% from beyond the arc over the last seven games.

As for Morant, he's not really coming from a place of strength in his trash talking with the Golden State legend. The 26-year-old is averaging 17.9 points (lowest since his rookie year) and 7.6 assists on a career-low 35.9% shooting from the floor and a woeful 16.7% from 3-point range.

Morant has also been suspended by the Grizzlies one game for conduct detrimental to the team, with the futures of both he and Thompson set to remain a talking point leading into the mid-season trade deadline.