Allonzo Trier sliding into a fan’s direct messages Wednesday on Twitter has the Knicks rookie in hot water.
After a 114-110 loss to the Rockets, Trier tried to defend himself for not having better coverage on Eric Gordon, who hit the game-winning 3. James Harden set a pick on Trier, who slipped underneath while Tim Hardaway Jr. stayed tight on Harden. That left Gordon open to swish the game-winner with 9.8 seconds left.
“It was supposed to be a switch dumb ass you think i just let n—a walk up and shoot a 3 smh y’all ‘fans’ don’t think,” Trier wrote in a direct message to a fan, who then took a screenshot and tweeted it out to the public.
Apprised of the social media saga Thursday after practice, Hardaway did not seem happy.
“Oh, so he was blaming other people, basically?” Hardaway said with a snicker before pausing and choosing his words carefully. “At the end of the day I think it all falls down on the team. Team defense, you learn from it. We watched film, we looked at today. I think in that scenario I was denying James, trying to deny him from the ball and have someone else score. But, yeah, just got to watch it and look it over and see what we can do better to make sure that doesn’t happen again. That’s all I can say.”
Trier confirmed the direct message was real and apologized for sending it, but said he did not expect it to blow up like it did.
“That was me being frustrated about the game and letting social media get the best of you and giving a response that wasn’t needed to somebody that was irrelevant to the situation,” said Trier, who could be facing a fine from the league. “Obviously I didn’t think they were going to take a picture of it and post it. But he got his clout, his little 15 seconds of fame. That’s why you don’t send stuff like that.”
Coach David Fizdale — who said the coverage was to switch, but noted Hardaway was trying to take Harden away — spoke with Trier about handling his emotions better in the future.
“It can’t come out like that. And it can’t come out in that kind of anger and frustration and it definitely can’t come out on social media,” Fizdale said.
Trier said he had yet to speak Hardaway directly about the play, but that they watched it as a team in a film session. The 23-year-old Trier, who went undrafted out of Arizona, lamented his competitive nature can be a “gift and [a] curse.”
This time it was a curse for the 10-36 Knicks, who have lost 18-of-20 heading into Friday night’s meeting with the Nets at Barclays Center.
“I just think that when it gets taken to social media that means you’re breaking the rules of being a team,” Hardaway said. “Keep all your frustration and everything and be pros. Don’t listen to the outside. We’re all in this together, 15 strong.”
That play wasn’t the first time Wednesday that Hardaway and Trier had a disagreement. Earlier in the game, Hardaway was visibly upset with Trier after he didn’t pass him the ball on a two-on-one, instead driving to the rim and getting stripped. Hardaway and Trier heatedly exchanged words as they headed into the huddle.
Fizdale said he was proud of how they handled that situation and praised them in the locker room after the game for how the argument had settled down by the time he got into the huddle.
Hardaway agreed Thursday they had resolved that snafu and moved on, but by then, they already had another battle on their hands.