It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Memphis Grizzlies on the court. While the team and its fans have been celebrating the announcement that both Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. have been named to the All-Star team, day-to-day play has been – shall we say – inconsistent.
Still, Grizz team members seem to be making a habit of talking tough, and looking ahead to upcoming NBA playoffs. That’s not sitting well with the analysis team on TNT’s “Inside The NBA.”
On a recent show, both Hall of Famers Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley gave the Grizzlies a verbal smack for talking too much trash, and not backing it up with on-court play… and wins. As of this post, the Grizzlies have lost seven of their last eight games, including a big loss just last night (again, as of this post), to the Cleveland Cavaliers at The Land.
Comments started with Barkley, himself a pretty good trash talker back from his playing days. He pointed out Ja Morant’s comments about his team being “fine” in the West.
Sir Charles: “The Grizzlies talk too much. They got to start playing. They’re like, well we’re not worried about anybody in the West, we’re worried about the Celtics in the East. Man, y’all ain’t got out of the West, yet. Y’all ain’t done nothing. So they need to quit talking and start playing.”
As for Shaq, he agreed with his TNT partner, adding that the Grizzlies’ talk gives opposing teams extra motivation. That definitely seemed to be the case in Cleveland last night, where the crowd came ready to cheer loud and strong – and they delivered.
As of this writing, the Grizz are in a solid second spot in the West, four games behind the Denver Nuggets. They’re 2 games ahead of the Sacremento Kings, who are also playing well these days.
As for Shaq, he agreed with Sir Charles, saying: “We’re all professionals, we all come to play but when you call us out, sometimes people turn on their playoff mode and they play extra hard. I agree with you, Chuck, (they) got to start playing and quit yapping.”
Inside the NBA watchers will know this is not the first time Barkley has been critical of the Grizzlies. Earlier this season, he suggested Morant needs to make his teammates better. Ironically, that’s something Morant has gotten credit and props for earlier this season, and since his rookie season last year. Has something changed?
As for Morant, he’s putting up good numbers, averaging a career-high 8.3 assists and has five triple-doubles this season. It remains to be seen if the Grizzlies can put all their talent to work and start a true playoff run, regardless of off-court talk.