Tuesday night, the Memphis Grizzlies were defeated 113-102 by the visiting New Orleans Pelicans.
NBA icon Charles Barkley spoke out against superstar Ja Morant during the TNT broadcast's halftime.
"The next stage for Ja is he's got to make guys around him better," he said, asserting that Morant does not improve his teammates. I doubt he has yet included that in his game.
Morant was not going to accept that tacitly. Morant retweeted his answer shortly after the defeat, using only the word "Kneepads" in it.
On Tuesday night, Morant scored 36 points while going 13 for 27 from the field. In the loss, he tacked on eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.
What else do you want Morant to do is up for debate. He has lost to the Pelicans, making him essentially a human highlight reel at this point.
However, some statistics seem to support Barkley's assertions. Without Morant in the lineup, the Grizzlies concluded last season 20-5.
Given how much time Ja Morant missed due to injury, what they accomplished last season is really astounding.
In the end, Memphis lost in the Western Conference playoffs second round.
Morant wouldn't be the first outstanding athlete to face criticism for not helping their teammates perform better.