UPDATE: Ja Morant deleted his tweet shortly after it went up. Here it is via a screenshot:
EARLIER: The Memphis Grizzlies got thrashed by the Golden State Warriors on Saturday night during Game 3 of their second round series. While suffering a 142-112 loss is never a good thing, the much bigger concern facing the Grizzlies the health of All-Star guard Ja Morant, who left the game while things were essentially done and dusted in the fourth quarter.
Morant got trapped near midcourt, and it appeared that he got hurt because Warriors guard Jordan Poole made contact with his right knee. It appeared that Morant was in some pain after and made his way to the bench.
Ja was frustrated after an apparent injury on this play.
Hope he’s okay pic.twitter.com/aXt1GNFkSQ
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) May 8, 2022
Right knee issues held Morant out for nine games in the lead-up to the postseason, so seeing this is especially concerning to Memphis. And after the game, Morant and Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins expressed some frustrations about the whole thing, with Jenkins going as far as to say that the play was “curious” and that Poole “grabbed [Morant’s] knee and yanked it.”
Taylor Jenkins on Ja: “Jordan Poole actually grabbed his knee and yanked it.”
— Geoff Calkins (@geoff_calkins) May 8, 2022
Taylor Jenkins says he is “curious what happened” on this play. Says Grizzlies will discuss it first when asked whether they will ask the league to look into it. https://t.co/xn94zrIlBZ
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) May 8, 2022
Morant, meanwhile, took to Twitter after the game and tweeted out a video of the incident with the caption “broke the code.”
” broke the code ” pic.twitter.com/Nu1PAfMO1x
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) May 8, 2022
The line is a clear shot at Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who said after Game 2 that Dillon Brooks “broke the code” that players are supposed to follow on the play that led to Gary Payton II suffering an elbow injury. Brooks was assessed a flagrant 2 foul and suspended from Game 3 as a result, while Payton is expected to be out for at least several weeks.
As for Poole, he stressed that he was going for the ball when asked about the incident after the game and told the press that “I’m not even that kind of player.”
Jordan Poole said he was going for the ball when he grabbed at Ja Morant’s knee and said it was a basketball play.
“I’m not even that kind of player. I respect everybody. I hope he gets better.”
— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) May 8, 2022