Ja Morant has obscene response to Charles Barkley’s criticism

Jan 26, 2022; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) during the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at AT&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-USA TODAY Sports

Ja Morant took whatever the opposite of the high road is in response to Charles Barkley’s criticism of him.

On Tuesday’s edition of TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” Barkley called out the Memphis Grizzlies star Morant, saying that Morant does not make his teammates better.

“The next evolution for Ja is [that] he gotta learn how to make the players around him better,” said Barkley. “When you’re a great player, you can get your shots any time you want to. But to take that next step … I don’t think he’s added that to his game yet. Sometimes when you make a play, you gotta be thinking to yourself, ‘I can go around this guy. But I gotta get this guy going. I gotta get this guy going.'”

Morant got wind of Barkley’s comments and hit back with an obscene reply.

“Kneepads,” Morant tweeted in reference to Barkley.

kneepads https://t.co/dqHk3SMLKU

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) November 16, 2022

Saying “kneepads,” is another (roundabout) way of saying, “S–k my d–k.”

Juvenile jabs aside, there are merits to both sides of the argument. Morant is a dynamic playmaker who helped teammates like Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. have stellar years last season. But Morant is indeed a score-first player who has a tendency to over-dribble and/or get tunnel vision attacking the basket at times. Additionally, Morant possesses an unflattering 1.73 assist-to-turnover ratio this season (171st in the NBA).

The Grizzlies ended up losing to the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday 113-102 while Morant finished with 36 points but just four assists. But Morant seems to be largely unbothered and had no problem doing Barkley like he did another adversary the other day.