In late March after a 123–95 blowout win over the Warriors, Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson poked fun at one of the team’s slogans, tweeting “Strength in numbers.” Golden State star Klay Thompson has been using that slight as motivation ever since, and brought it up after his team captured its fourth NBA championship in eight years on Thursday night.
“Strength in numbers is alive and well,” Thompson said during the post-game press conference, laughing as he remembered Jackson’s tweet. “There was this one player on the Grizzlies who tweeted ‘Strength in numbers’ after they beat us in the regular season, and it pissed me off so much. I can’t wait to retweet that thing. Freakin’ bum. I had to watch that. I’m just like, ‘This freakin’ clown.’
“Okay. Sorry, that memory just popped up. Gonna mock us? You ain’t ever been there before, bruh. We’ve been there before, we know what it takes. So to be here again, hold that… Twitter fingers, can you believe it?”
“I got a memory like an elephant, I don’t forget. And there were a lot of people kicking us while we were down,” Thompson continued.
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The rant capped an otherwise-jovial night for Thompson, who coined the incredible phrase “holy cannoli” after the game, when asked about his incredible return from devastating injuries over the last few years. He suffered a torn ACL in Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals against the Raptors and the torn Achilles that took place in November '20, as he was ramping up to return to the Warriors.
“Game 6 Klay” made his return this postseason, and he scored 30 points on 8-of-14 shooting to help close out Jackson and the Grizzlies in the conference semifinals on May 13, 110–96, one of three 30+ point performances from Thompson in the Warriors’ NBA championship run.
As of Friday morning, Thompson hasn’t retweeted Jackson’s message yet, but you can forgive him for having some other things to attend to after taking home his fourth Larry O’Brien Trophy.
- Inside the Warriors’ Long-Awaited Return to Glory
- It Wasn’t the Celtics’ Time. Next Year It Could Be.
- Stephen Curry’s Legacy Is Cemented
- Inside The Warriors: Klay Thompson Destroys Jaren Jackson Jr. For Mocking Warriors
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