We do, too.
We’re not afraid to admit we love a good social media smack down. Who doesn’t love it when K.D. claps back at a sassy fan or critical member of the media? When athletes get unfiltered and are unapologetic about it, we’re here for it. That same passion is what makes them good at their sport. And judging by the response to Ja Morant’s recent tweets to the otherwise untouchable Steph Curry, we’re not alone. You love a good social media smackdown, too.
Here’s what went down.
The Backstory: The Warriors traded Andre Iguodala to the Grizzlies at the end of last season in exchange for D’Angelo Russell. Iggy was not happy to get sent to Memphis, a young team with little chance of winning a championship in the near future. So Iggy never showed up for work, nor does he ever plan to suit up for the team.
And with the NBA trade deadline just a day away, Iggy put pressure on the Grizzlies to trade him to a team he’s deemed worthy, which is basically The Lakers or The Clippers. He’s even said he’s willing to sit out the entire season if they don’t. His teammates felt disrespected.
After the Grizzlies played Detroit on Monday night, Ja’s teammate Dillion Brooks said this:
Morant chimed in.
Steph responded on his Instagram story with this photo of Andre holding the Larry O’Brien Championship trophy with a “Shh” emoji on the photo 🤫.
Morant escalated it by posting a photo of Kevin Durant holding his Finals MVP trophy, a subtle jab at Curry as if to say Durant was responsible for the Warriors’ success.
That’s when Twitter had take a break to regroup because everyone knows you don’t talk back to Steph. Or, at least no one ever had.
Fans accused Morant of being overconfident considering he hadn’t yet completed one season in the NBA. He disagreed.
That’s when fans went full C.S.I. and dug up Morant’s old tweets praising Steph as if they’d found a smoking gun. Morant was unfazed.
We admire his moxie. Also we want to start saying “iann” in place of real words, too.
Morant then posted a thread of all the kind things he’s tweet’d about Steph over the year. He has yet to apologize or delete any of his posts.
Most people moved on at this point. Naturally, not us. We read every tweet as if it were a bedtime story. This is the kind of content we live for. A fight where we’ve got no skin in the game? Yes, please.
Iguodala has remained otherwise silent despite the attention surrounding his trade. But Wednesday he told ESPN, “It’s never been, ‘I don’t want to be there, It’s, ‘Let’s have the conversations in terms of what it looks like going forward. How can I be a value to you? How can you be a value to me? And then how can we make that happen?'”
Just saying Iggy, that sounds like you don’t want to be there.
Now if all this arguing makes you wanna cover your ears and rock back and forth in a corner, breathe deep. It’s gonna be okay. Curry and Morant dm’d one another after the initial exchange. Morant says there is still, “Mutual respect.”
It’s worth noting that the Grizzlies are currently in 8th place in their division. They’ve done it all without Iggy. They’ve got a right to be mad.
