Good in his head and in his basketball, Ja Morant has a lot of trouble channeling himself, and last night, he couldn't help but “troll” the Nets. This is the term he himself used. “I was trolling them. I just wanted to piss them off, and that's what happened… But if saying 'yeah' to them is disrespectful or makes you feel something like that, then that's the way it is…” defended Morant, author of 28 points in the victory against the Nets.
This night there were two provocations from him. The first was with this “yeah” addressed to Jordi Fernandez after scoring at the buzzer in the first half. The Nets coach looks at him, and the two teams remain in the locker room.
Dennis Schroder gets involved
And then, there is this new provocation at the very end of the match. Taylor Jenkins and his counterpart open the “garbage time”, and after a foul, Morant goes to challenge the Nets bench: he applauds and taunts them before joining the bench. This time, the Nets ask the referees to intervene, and Dennis Schroder attacks Jenkins.
Result: a general melee where everyone is barking. “I respect trash talking, but I don't respect the fact that when you win, you come and attack the coach,” Schroder defends. “Respect the sport if you win!” Win with some class. I didn't appreciate it. »
The German, like Jenkins, will receive a technical foul. These will be the 5th and 6th technical fouls of the evening! “Every time I see something, I defend the people that I play with, that I go to war with every night, that I improve with every day, and I try to protect them”, continues Schroder. “I was just trying to protect Jordi. Ja spoke and I tried to protect Jordi, to see what was happening. It's not a bad reaction. Everyone is in the competition. »
But in the end, why did Morant go and taunt the Nets bench? It's Jaren Jackson Jr. who thinks he has the answer, and he talks about this moment when the Nets went from -17 to -7 in the second half. “They started talking at a time when it was quiet, and it was easier to hear. They had just signed a small series, they had something to say. It’s cool… It’s basketball. I feel like if you don’t talk, you don’t do anything.”
