"Ridiculous" - Andre Agassi's ex-coach calls out Ja Morant over controversial Klay Thompson confrontation

Andre Agassi's ex-coach Brad Gilbert recently criticized Ja Morant after the Memphis Grizzlies point guard controversially confronted Dallas Mavericks shooting guard Klay Thompson. The confrontation between the NBA stars came in the aftermath of the Grizzlies' recent 102-96 win over the Mavericks.

Following the final whistle, Morant, who didn't play the game, initiated the confrontation by putting his finger in Thompson's face. Thompson proceeded to swat at Morant's hand, and the pair exchanged unpleasant words, subsequently needing to be separated. What stood out was the Grizzlies point guard telling the Mavericks shooting guard:

"You a bum now."

A fan on X (formerly Twitter), reacting to the controversial moment, slammed 26-year-old Morant over his behavior by comparing his achievements with that of Thompson's when the latter was 26.

"Klay at age 26 had a championship, 2 finals appearances, an Olympic gold medal, most points scored in a quarter, and was the 2nd best player on a 73-9 team. Ja Morant is soooo far behind him in terms of accomplishments, he’ll be lucky if he’s even in the league at 35," the fan wrote.

Brad Gilbert, the American former ATP star and iconic tennis coach who most notably guided the legendary Andre Agassi to six of his eight Major titles, took notice of the fan's post. Gilbert, like the fan, was critical of Morant. He also opined that the point guard was "lucky" to avoid suspension. The 64-year-old also questioned Morant's contributions to the Grizzlies despite his lucrative contract.

"This is ridiculous in street clothes Ja barely 😰 plays and was so lucky 🍀 @NBA did not suspend him for at least a full season, will be interesting what Grizz can get for poor shooting PG doesn’t play a lot of games and huge salary," Andre Agassi's ex-coach Brad Gilbert wrote.

Brad Gilbert

@bgtennisnation

this is ridiculous in street clothes Ja barely 😰 plays and was so lucky 🍀 @NBA did not suspend him for at least a full season, will be interesting what Grizz can get for poor shooting PG doesn’t play a lot of games and huge salary

Andre Agassi's ex-coach Brad Gilbert most recently worked with Coco Gauff; led American to maiden Major singles title

Coco Gauff (left) with Brad Gilbert (right) during a practice session at the 2024 French Open (Source: Getty)

Brad Gilbert left Andre Agassi's camp in 2002 having cemented his reputation as one of the best coaches in tennis. He went on to work with several other high-profile names on the ATP Tour, such as Andy Roddick, Andy Murray, Kei Nishikori and Sam Querrey.

In 2023 though, he joined forces for the first time with a WTA star in Coco Gauff. At the time, Gauff was struggling for form, but her collaboration with Gilbert appeared to rejuvenate her. Not long after he was roped into the Florida native's coaching setup, Gauff clinched three back-to-back titles, including her maiden singles Slam title at the 2023 US Open.

However, the collaboration came to an end following Gauff's disappointing US Open title defense in 2024.