Competition requires a healthy balance. When you’re on the court, it should be all business: The trash-talking, the gamesmanship, everything of that sort is fair play. Off the court, people are still people, and while sometimes the two cross over, generally NBA players are pretty good about keeping things not as personal.

That’s been best exemplified this past week with the rumor that the NBA’s Christmas Day games slate will include a vaunted Warriors-Grizzlies matchup. This one’s perfect for the drama, dating all the way back to the Andre Iguodala saga when he was traded there initially, and catching up to the most recent playoffs where the Grizzlies and Warriors fought an incredibly gritty 6-game series in the 2nd round prior to the Warriors finishing it off with a title.

And, of course, a little post-championship banter where Ja Morant and Draymond Green could mess with each other a bit. The original tweet referenced here is Ja responding to someone saying that a hometown matchup for Golden State against Memphis was “all but guaranteed”. Dray, of course, had something to say about that after the Dubs hosted their trophy.

With the recent leak about the NBA’s Christmas plans, Ja and Draymond seemed to have plenty of time in the offseason to address news like this. The two stars shared a surprisingly friendly moment, coming not too soon after Dray told the media that he sees a lot of himself in the Grizzlies point guard.

The back-and-forth has been fun to watch, but this was probably unexpected, and it speaks to the on-court versus off-court nature of something like NBA drama. While some players prefer to take things personally and bring it home with them after a sour series like the Grizzlies and Warriors had, it’s clear that a veteran like Draymond can think a little ahead of that, and it shows some maturity from Ja as well that he’s able to take the banter lightly.

The Warriors and Grizzlies are slated to be the matchup of the day, as it includes a possible rivalry-in-the-making for the fresh champs of the 2022 season. The NBA has yet to release its full schedule, but it’s very expected that this will be the game everyone’s going to want to see. The narratives, aside from just Ja and Dray, are too good to leave hanging.

(Photo credit: Noah Graham / Getty Images)