Well, this Twitter fight between NBA stars sure escalated quickly
Some good-natured trash talk or a general airing of grievances is far from unheard of among pro athletes on social media, but this little beef between two NBA stars got real personal real fast.
Grab your popcorn.
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It all starts with some-good natured ribbing during Friday night's game between the Portland Trail Blazers and Memphis Grizzlies. The Blazers' official account tweeted out a GIF making fun of Grizzlies forward Chandler Parsons for air-balling a three-pointer.
To be fair, the NBA 3-point line is really, really far away from the basket. pic.twitter.com/dHusI9cHcW
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) January 28, 2017
No big deal, right? Well, Chandler took exception after the game.
Portland is on track to miss the playoffs this year, while Memphis is on track to qualify. That's what Chandler is referencing in this comeback wishing the Trail Blazers good fortune in the draft lottery for non-playoff teams.
@trailblazers good luck in the lottery show this year✊🏻
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) January 28, 2017
Pettiness, thy name is Chandler Parsons. Or is it actually C.J. McCollum?
McCollum, a Trail Blazers guard, fired back at Parsons in a major way.
Parsons considered signing with Portland this off-season, but instead accepted a massive deal from Memphis. He has, however, had a poor season with the Grizzlies. Portland, McCollum said, "hit the lottery" by missing out on their pursuit of Parsons last summer.
We hit the lottery by not signing you https://t.co/eSiBaNT061
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) January 28, 2017
Blazers teammate Damian Lillard seemed to enjoy the burn.
— Damian Lillard (@Dame_Lillard) January 28, 2017
Chandler tried to get the last word in by referencing his $95 million deal with Memphis.
@CJMcCollum stop it. Technically, I hit the lottery.
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) January 28, 2017
But the internet had already declared McCollum this Twitter fight's winner by TKO.
@CJMcCollum @ChandlerParsons @trailblazers pic.twitter.com/oDUMGBxzvJ
— Nai(Roy)Saelee (@Nai_Roy) January 28, 2017
@CJMcCollum pic.twitter.com/uOppSTiUoe
— John (@Friar_Faithful) January 28, 2017
.@CJMcCollum @ChandlerParsons @trailblazers good to see the Wikipedia page is already updated. pic.twitter.com/51e2qO6Vc1
— Mac McClintock (@MacMcclintock6) January 28, 2017
Portland teammate Evan Turner, meanwhile, was like many of us in that he was grateful just to have witnessed the historic internet fight.
These tweets are for the ages. I think both participants should shake hands after this. I'm just speechless. Unbelievable https://t.co/fQ1FWboLDY
— Evan Turner (@thekidet) January 28, 2017
Trail Blazers president Chris McGowan later released a statement saying the original airball tweet from the official team account that set the whole thing off was "probably a little too close to the line" separating humor and mean-spiritedness.
Trail Blazers President Chris McGowan issues statement to ESPN regarding the team's tweet that sparked Chandler Parsons-CJ McCollum exchange pic.twitter.com/EsNBIT8zgk
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 28, 2017
Chandler replied that it's all nothing to get too worked up about.
It's all in good fun! No hard feelings👌🏻 https://t.co/vc6hxWmvfn
— Chandler Parsons (@ChandlerParsons) January 28, 2017
See? All's well that ends well. But let the record show: Chandler still got burned by McCollum, whose Trail Blazers even picked up a 112-109 win over Memphis on Friday, adding injury to insult.
