Tensions rose in last night’s Grizzlies-Nets game after Ja Morant directed his focus towards Brooklyn head coach Jordi Fernandez twice during Memphis’ 135-119 win.

After hitting a jumper at the end of the first half, Morant made a deliberate walk down the court, staring Fernandez down.

This confrontational tone continued into the fourth quarter, where verbal exchanges took place — this time involving Dennis Schroder and Taylor Jenkins.

All three received technical fouls, much to the displeasure of Memphis’ coach. However, Fernandez reserved his response for the postgame media session, stating, “I will never speak to other teams’ players, and I don’t want other players to speak to me. If they want to be nice, obviously it’s part of the game. If not, I don’t want any interaction. I think it’s disrespectful. It’s not part of the game. We need to project respect for the game, whether you’re a superstar or not. That’s what I want my players to do, and that’s what I do myself. I can’t control others.”

Morant, on the other hand, offered his explanation during an interview with NBA on ESPN. “On my end, I was trolling, just to get them riled up. And they did,” Morant said. “It wasn’t too much on my side. I even told the coach that I was trolling, so he was good. I’m not sure what was said on their end to upset coach [Jenkins], but in the end, I just wanted to make sure coach was okay.”