Due to various injuries he had suffered, Golden State’s Klay Thompson had not played an NBA game on Christmas Day since 2018.
Needless to say, Thompson was particularly excited to get back on the court when the Warriors faced off against the Grizzlies. The Warriors were without Stephen Curry but still managed to win, 123-109. Thompson finished with 24 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Perhaps the most memorable moment of the game, though, occurred when the four-time NBA champion was called for a technical foul after standing above Memphis Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks.
Thompson hit a 3-pointer and on his way back to the other side of the court, Brooks then tripped and fell to the floor. Thompson used this opportunity to stare down the former University of Oregon standout:
Klay Thompson just got a technical for taunting Dillon Brooks 👀 pic.twitter.com/GEQlnsLYoV
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) December 26, 2022
As entertaining as it was to see the usually laid-back Thompson so animated, it definitely went against the rules of what can and cannot go down during an NBA game.
Thompson was called for a technical foul for taunting Brooks, who is one of the NBA players most regularly called for technical fouls.
After the game, Thompson was asked about his motivation for this decision and he said it was just some trash talk. He added that while he didn’t think it warranted a technical foul, he forgot about the NBA’s rule against taunting.
Klay Thompson: "It's always fun to talk trash. We've been doing that since we were in middle school. So that's when you either play your best or you get frazzled. For me, it's usually the former."
There you go. pic.twitter.com/XZXfKFrIxn
— HoopsHype (@hoopshype) December 26, 2022
Thompson admitted he was upset when Grizzlies big Jaren Jackson Jr. ironically tweeted out “strength in numbers” after Memphis beat Golden State during the regular season.
He said he didn’t like getting mocked by someone on a team who had not yet performed on the biggest stage.
During his post-game interview on ESPN following the victory, meanwhile, Thompson was asked if he had any message to send to the Grizzlies.
"You can't talk dynasty when you haven't won before … I thought that was premature talk."
—Klay after beating the Grizzlies on Christmas pic.twitter.com/mBR1Uq5h7I
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 26, 2022
Thompson said Memphis “can’t talk dynasty” if they haven’t won before.
Brooks, the longest-tenured player on his team, referred to the Grizzlies as a dynasty back in March 2022:
“From the beginning, we were growing a base, we had a base and we kept building and building and building and more guys got on the train and we were able to create something like this and keep building this dynasty and this program up to new heights.”
Brooks has also said that the Warriors are “getting old” and know that the Grizzlies are coming for them every single year.
When the two teams met in the postseason, Golden State head coach Steve Kerr stated that Brooks “broke the code” during a flagrant foul that injured Gary Payton II. Grizzlies star Ja Morant mocked Kerr’s comments in a since-deleted tweet.
There is a lot of bad blood between these two teams and it was not exactly shocking to see Thompson react this way to Brooks — who blamed the refs for letting it happen.
