Klay Thompson finally blasts Grizzlies' 'dirty' playoff antics Warriors won't forget

After Saturday night’s game versus the Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks wing Klay Thompson sounded off on Santi Aldama and others in postgame interviews, as Aldama intentionally tripped Cooper Flagg, but this wasn’t Thompson’s first encounter with a dishonorable Grizzlies squad.

Back in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, then Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks was suspended for an extremely hard foul on Gary Payton II, and Payton subsequently broke his elbow from the incident, as Thompson was an eyewitness to this entire situation with the Golden State Warriors. This play infuriated Warriors fans at the time, and they'll love that he finally called out Memphis.

"I’ve seen them do dirty stuff before," Thompson said about the Grizzlies. "I remember in the playoffs, 2022, they broke my teammates elbow on a dirty hit…Don’t be dirty. That’s not it."

While Brooks isn’t on the Grizzlies anymore, Thompson suggested that the Grizzlies are a dirty team, and one can’t blame him whatsoever, given the antics they’ve pulled against teams that Thompson is playing for. Thompson and Grizzlies star Ja Morant got into it following Saturday night’s contest, as Thompson didn’t take kindly to Morant’s chirping, especially since he couldn’t back it up and was injured.

Klay Thompson's comments echo Grizzlies-Warriors beef from playoffs

“He's a funny guy," Thompson said regarding Morant. "He has a lot to say all the time, especially for a guy who rarely takes accountability." 

Thompson undoubtedly did the right thing by coming to Flagg’s defense, but with Thompson not being the most outspoken guy in the media, it’s clear he must vehemently disagree with the Grizzlies' dirty playstyle, as he doesn’t get riled up about stuff like this often. Thompson has been in the league long enough to differentiate between what is cheap and whatnot, as it's clear he thinks the new rendition of this Grizzlies team has been notoriously cheap.

There's no room in the NBA for what Aldama did on Saturday night, as he could've seriously injured Flagg if things had played out differently, so Thompson is completely justified in labeling the Grizzlies as a dirty team in this instance. Even though Thompson is long gone from the Bay Area, Warriors fans can appreciate him coming to Payton II's defense in postgame interviews, as Brooks' antics sort of jettisoned the way the Grizzlies currently play, even though he's in Phoenix now.

Again, Thompson wouldn't go out of his way to sound off on the Grizzlies in postgame interviews, and probably would've let reporters interpret how the situation wen for themselves if he didn't have hard feelings over the situation, but it's clear Thompson genuinely lacks respect for this Grizzlies team following multiple dirty incidents he's seen, and Mavericks and Warriors fans can say the same.

"They just talk a lot," Thompson said of the new-era Grizzlies. "They’ve always talked a lot, and never really backed it up either. So, I don’t really respect that. I respect guys who back up the talk with play, cause talk is cheap. Trust me, I know that better than anybody."

Thompson has come back to earth after an extremely rough start to the season shooting the ball, and while his future in a Mavericks uniform could be in question with this new front office having many decisions to make still, it's clear his commitment toward the franchise and leadership will remain as long as he's a Maverick.