Trash talking is common in the NBA, but you should make sure your target isn't one of the best players in the game before opening your mouth. During his rookie season, Orlando Magic big man Moritz Wagner spoke before looking and came to regret that decision.
Wagner went on the "Pardon My Take" podcast and told a hilarious story about trash talking Kevin Durant as a rookie with the Los Angeles Lakers. Wagner said Durant, on the Golden State Warriors at the time, fouled him on a 3-point attempt.
Without looking to see who made contact with him, Wagner immediately let Durant hear about it.
"Kevin Durant guards me, and I don't think he's taking me seriously at all. He didn't even know who I was," Wagner said. "I'm on a pick-and-pop three, and he fouls me. I didn't realize it was him, turned around and said, 'You can't guard me.'"
Wagner instantly knew that was going to come back to haunt him, and it did. While at the free throw line, Durant and two of his Warriors teammates started chirping Wagner, who walked away with just one point.
"I've no credibility whatsoever at this point, and its Kevin Durant I just talked smack to," Wagner said. "At that point, he was on the Warriors. It was him, Draymond Green, and Demarcus Cousins that were on the free throw line talking shit to me while I was shooting three free throws. I'm telling you I was so shook. ... I made one out of three."
That story went viral, and it came across Durant's timeline on social media. Durant himself admitted he wondered who that rookie thought he was.
"I walked away from that game thinking, damn that rookie is an asshole," Durant posted.
Wagner learned a lesson the hard way, but he is all the wiser for it today. Wagner now plays on the Magic with his brother, Franz Wagner, and they have the team rolling with nine wins in the last 10 games. Now maybe Wagner can start running his mouth a little more.
