Klay Thompson called a Grizzlies player a 'bum' for mocking the Warriors in a tweet — and ignited a new rivalry

• Klay Thompson called a Grizzlies player a "bum" for a March tweet mocking the Warriors.
• After the Warriors won the championship, Thompson mocked the Grizzlies for never winning a championship.

Klay Thompson let the world know he didn't appreciate a tweet from Jaren Jackson Jr. that mocked the Golden State Warriors.

Speaking to reporters after the Warriors beat the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Finals to win the championship, Thompson referenced a March 29 tweet from the Memphis Grizzlies big man.

The tweet simply said, "Strength in numbers" with a clapping emoji. "Strength in numbers" has been the Warriors' franchise slogan, and Jackson tweeted it after the Grizzlies beat the Warriors, 123-95, on March 28.

Thompson called Jackson a "bum" in his press conference and said the tweet bothered him.

"There is this one player on the Grizzlies who tweeted, 'Strength in numbers' after they beat us in the regular season and it pissed me off so much," Thompson said. "I can't wait to retweet that thing. Frigging bum."

Thompson added: "Going to mock us? Like, you ain't ever been there before, bro. We been there. We know what it takes. So to be here again: Hold that. Twitter fingers, can you believe it?

"I've got a memory like an elephant. I don't forget. There were a lot of people kicking us down."

Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant appeared to respond cryptically, tweeting, "climb up da chimney," a reference to Morant telling reporters this season: "We climb up the chimney. We ain't ducking no smoke."

It could be the makings of a new rivalry in the West. The Warriors and Grizzlies have played competitive regular-season games in recent years and had a tight, intense second-round playoff battle this year. The Warriors won in 6, but it might have gone longer (and ended differently) if Morant hadn't gotten hurt in Game 4, missing the last two games of the series. The Grizzlies beat the Warriors in last season's play-in tournament.

The Grizzlies are the young, hungry, upstart team of the Western Conference, while the Warriors will enter next season as the established dynasty trying to hold onto its title.

The NBA regular season is just four months away.