Dallas Mavericks guard J.J. Barea has had one of the more incredible NBA careers, playing 14 seasons and winning a championship despite standing no more than 5’10. Consider all that, and you can guess that Barea doesn’t back down when anyone gets in his face these days, even an all-star point guard like John Wall.
Wall took exception to an offensive foul Barea committed against Kelly Oubre Jr., and while play was stopped, he told him that. It couldn’t have helped the Wizards were down by 22 points at the time, but Barea’s reaction could not have been more nonplussed.
That was nothing compared to their barbs traded to media members after the game, though.
Wall said this about Barea:
“It was cool to me, it was funny. Just a little midget trying to get mad. So, I paid him no mind.”
Barea replied to Wall’s comment like this:
“Now I have somebody in the NBA that I don’t like. That’s my first. I don’t like him at all now. But I don’t think his teammates like him, either. So it’s nothing new for him.”
There has previously been tension between Wall and his costar, Bradley Beal, and Barea’s comments come one day after it was reported there had been a “failed” team meeting where, according to The Washington Post’s Candace Buckner, “a couple guys took it the negative way” and it hurt the Wizards.
How good was each reply
Wall’s joke: Let’s not call short people midgets anymore, OK? It’s not clever and insensitive. (Also, Barea is about the same height as an average American adult male.) 0 stars out of 10.
Barea’s joke: The best jokes are topical ones that touch on a sensitive subject. The execution could have been a little bit better, but this is a 9.5 stars out of 10 joke right here.