Klay Thompson may not be suiting up for the Warriors this season but that's not going to prevent him from taking shots. Thompson had some strong words for Detroit's Rodney McGruder after McGruder confronted the Warriors' bench immediately after Golden State's 118-91 win on Saturday night.
After the final horn, McGruder approached and exchanged words with Juan Toscano-Anderson before being escorted away by team staffers. After tensions seemed to settle, Thompson, who had joined the Warriors' broadcast, couldn't resist roasting McGruder.
Klay defending his teammates on the mic 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/xgTUxwcP36
— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) January 31, 2021
"This dude might be out the league soon, he's probably mad about that," Thompson said. "He's over here trying to start something like he's a good player or something. It's like, bro, get out of here..."
Thompson was ultimately cut off by a member of the Warriors' broadcast team, who likely stepped in to prevent Thompson from going overboard or saying something he'd come to regret.
After the game, Draymond Green also weighed in on the brief altercation between McGruder and Toscano-Anderson.
"When the [expletive] did Rodney McGruder become the tough guy on the team?" Green asked during his postgame presser. "I don't know man, everybody in the league tough these days. It's crazy. I've seen a lot of tough guys this year. I don't understand it -- and don't nobody do anything. Like, if you really wanted to do something, you could've done it. [Expletive] over there talking s--t like he's the team tough guy. Get the hell out of here."
Detroit's Wayne Ellington apparently heard all the talking and on Sunday he fired back.
Wayne Ellington on the incident in Golden State: "I seen that junk. It's crazy. First of all, I think it's very unprofessional and not class for someone to attack Rodney's professional career the way it was attacked."
— James Edwards III (@JLEdwardsIII) January 31, 2021
"First of all, I think it's very unprofessional and definitely not classy for somebody to attack Rodney's professional career the way it was attacked," Ellington told reporters Sunday. "To be honest, the guy over there, Juan, is the one who started the whole thing. Rod is a man of respect, like myself, and I felt like he took offense to whatever the guy was saying to me in the first half.
"For Draymond to sit up there and talk all that kind of crazy stuff behind a microphone, I think that's the fake tough-guy stuff, to be honest with you."
No real punches may have been thrown but it sure seems like everyone came away from whatever happened feeling just a little bit salty.
