Grizz coach Jenkins calls out Dray foul with Warriors ‘code’ reference originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
The lore between the Warriors and Memphis Grizzlies goes way back — and, in this case, back to 2022.
After Golden State’s 123-118 win over Memphis on Friday at Chase Center, Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins invoked now-famous “code” comments made by Warriors coach Steve Kerr during the 2022 Western Conference semifinals.
But this time, the comment was made about Warriors forward Draymond Green after his foul on Grizzlies rookie Zach Edey, which Jenkins clearly believed crossed a line.
“Overall, thought he was really good,” Jenkins said of Edey (h/t ESPN). “And very disappointing, there was that one play, we were about to start the break and he’s been playing really hard to try to outlet, and Draymond grabs his leg and pulls him down and it doesn’t get reviewed.
“So I know there’s a code in this league, and I don’t understand how that wasn’t reviewed. Very disappointing.”
While Green originally was called for a transition take foul, the NBA upgraded the incident to a Flagrant 1 foul Saturday after a review. Green didn’t appreciate Jenkins’ comments, either, insinuating the Grizzlies coach is soft with a post on his Instagram story Saturday and commenting “Shut up!” on a post of what Jenkins said.
There was plenty of talk about “code” when the Grizzlies and Warriors faced off in the 2022 conference semifinals, with Kerr taking exception to a Flagrant 2 foul by Dillon Brooks on Gary Payton II, which broke the latter’s elbow, in Game 2 of the series.
“There is a code,” Kerr said of the play at the time. “This code that players follow where you never put a guy’s season [or] career in jeopardy by taking somebody out in midair and clubbing him across the head, ultimately fracturing Gary’s elbow. … He broke the code. Dillon Brooks broke the code.”
What ensued was a back-and-forth of “code” accusations, including Ja Morant accusing Jordan Poole of breaking it when Poole appeared to grab at Morant’s knee in Game 3.
Whether or not Jenkins meant to bring up codes of games past with his comments Friday night, that word certainly holds a heavy connotation for Dub Nation and Grizzlies fans alike.