Ja Morant and Nets HC make their feelings known after back and forth over Grizzlies star's taunting

On Friday, Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies scored a 135-119 victory over the Brooklyn Nets. Amid the intense game, Morant taunted the Nets head coach, Jordi Fernandez, who found it disrespectful. After the game, Fernandez and the Grizzlies star each gave their thoughts on what happened between them.

Late in the fourth quarter, the Grizzlies already had a 133-113 lead. Morant was fouled and the coaching staff initiated a substitution for their All-Star guard. While his replacement player Yuki Kawamura was getting ready to get in the game, Memphis' star player was taunting Fernandez.

The Nets head coach didn't like his antics and talked back. This led to the Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins to defend his star player.

After the game, Fernandez explained that he thought the antics from the two-time All-Star was "disrespectful."

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"I will never speak to other players and I don’t want them to speak to me… I don’t want any interaction," Fernandez said. "I think it’s disrespectful and it’s not part of the game… Play with respect for the game."

The statement from the head coach reached Morant, who thought he didn't do anything disrespectful.

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"I was trolling, just to get them riled up, and I did... I didn't say nothing crazy. If you look at the video, I was just saying 'yeah.' If 'yeah' is disrespectful or makes you feel some type of way, then hey, so be it," Morant said.

Morant and the Grizzlies had the last laugh as he led the team with a huge double-double. The 2019-20 Rookie of the Year posted 28 points, seven assists and 10 rebounds.

The two teams won't play against each other again until next season as this was the third and final game of their season series. In the first two, the Nets secured the wins.

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Ja Morant had another viral dunk after claiming he'd stop

Grizzlies star Ja Morant can't stop himself from dunking. Morant revealed in an interview with ESPN's Tim MacMahon that he'd stop dunking after he sustained an injury. During their Nov. 6 game against the Lakers, the star guard had to exit the game after an alley-oop attempt caused him to get hit by Christian Koloko midair.

This caused him to miss eight games because of a partial posterior hip subluxation and multiple pelvic muscle strains. However, Morant broke his promise in the Grizzlies' 127-121 win over the Boston Celtics on Dec. 7 during the third quarter.

Against the Nets, he pulled another highlight reel above the rim on a fastbreak opportunity.

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Fortunately for Morant, he wasn't hurt as there wasn't anyone who tried to contest him.

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