While the Dallas Mavericks lost yet another clutch game to the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday night at home, the story of the game was undoubtedly when Santi Aldama seemingly intentionally tripped Cooper Flagg after the Mavericks got a turnover toward the end of the third quarter.
Both head coach Jason Kidd and veteran Klay Thompson came to Flagg’s defense, with Thompson chirping at Aldama and other Grizzlies players throughout the rest of the contest at certain points. Thompson has never been known as a huge enforcer throughout his long career, but he’s been in the league long enough to know what’s cheap and what’s not, as he wasn’t going to let Aldama get off without any shame for what he did to Flagg.
Aldama had to be separated from Thompson following the incident, and Aldama was assessed a flagrant foul penalty 1 for his blatant tripping of Flagg. It’d be one thing if Flagg simply didn’t see Aldama on the floor when getting back and just tripped over him, but Aldama stuck his arm out blatantly to trip Flagg’s leg, which is probably one of the most dishonorable things one could do on an NBA court.
Thompson elaborated further on the incident in postgame interviews, as he also chirped at Vince Williams during the game and an injured Ja Morant after the game.
“It was a great time,” Thompson said. “With the tall guy, I thought just like that’s not cool. I’ve seen them do dirty stuff before. I remember in the playoffs, 2022, they broke my teammate’s elbow on a dirty hit…I don’t like seeing that done to a rookie. That’s not cool…Don’t be dirty.”
“That’s not it…And Williams, I just kept that same energy, kept chirping, thought he flopped when I got tied up with him. And then with Ja, he’s a funny guy. He has a lot to say all the time, especially for a guy who rarely takes accountability, but you know, that’s for another day.”
This wasn’t Thompson’s first bout with Grizzlies players, as he mentioned, as he also slighted Jaren Jackson Jr. for mocking the Golden State Warriors in a tweet prior to Thompson winning the 2022 NBA Championship. Thompson clearly doesn’t respect the new rendition of the Grizzlies team, as they’ve been classless toward him in multiple matchups, so he definitely did the right thing by coming to the 18-year-old Flagg’s defense.
Flagg is bound to be one of the best two-way players in the game in due time, but it can’t be forgotten that he’s still extremely young, and regardless of how mature he is, it’s not easy for a rookie to step up for himself in that type of situation.
Thompson wasn’t going to let the rest of the Grizzlies or Aldama get off scot-free for his actions, which is needed from a veteran like him on this Mavericks team, especially with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis still out due to injury.
Overall, Thompson is usually an easygoing guy on the court, but he’s not going to let something as cheap as what Aldama did to a rookie go by the wayside, which Mavericks fans can value regardless of what Thompson’s future with the team holds.
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