NBA fans troll Tari Eason for rocking "Warriors come out to play" t-shirt amid blowout loss

Despite being sidelined, Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason continued taunting the Golden State Warriors during Thursday's pivotal home matchup. However, his antics backfired immensely, leaving NBA fans roasting the 22-year-old.

From March 8 to 29, the 11th-placed Rockets went on an improbable 11-game winning streak. That put them in position to potentially overtake the 10th-placed Warriors for the Western Conference's final play-in tournament position.

After Houston came within a game of Golden State, Eason taunted the Warriors on an Instagram live broadcast.

"Warriors! Come out to play!" Eason said. "Warriors! Come out to play! Yeah! It's like that!"

Thus, many were looking forward to Thursday's matchup between the two play-in hopefuls.

However, the teams entered the evening trending in opposite directions. The Warriors were riding a league-best five-game winning streak, while the Rockets had lost two straight contests since their 11-game winning streak.

Nonetheless, Eason, who is out for the season after undergoing season-ending leg surgery, decided to double down on his trash talk. He sported a "Warriors come out to play" t-shirt on the sidelines.

Unfortunately for the Rockets forward, his team got trounced, suffering an embarrassing 133-110 home defeat. The loss essentially ended Houston's (38-38) play-in hopes, as it now trails Golden State (42-34) by 4.0 games with six remaining.

Amid the Rockets' blowout loss, fans took to X/Twitter to mock Tari Eason for calling out the Warriors. Most remarked about how embarrassing it was for a bench player to talk trash to an established veteran team like Golden State.

X users @ShadBoogie and @adm1430 pointed out that Eason's gesture didn't even make sense given that he didn't play.

"This [is] crazy work doing this and riding the bench. SMDH. It [doesn’t] even hit, fam."

"All that trash talk just to get a DNP."

Meanwhile, @K_Earls32 and @vgarciaaax joked that players should learn to stop challenging Steph Curry and the Warriors.

"When will people ever learn? You don’t taunt Steph or LeBron [James], LOL."

"They will never learn. He should rock one that says 'Warriors own the Rockets' instead."

Finally, @youngintripleog likened Eason's trash talk to "spoiled milk."

Notably, the Rockets are a young up-and-coming team and weren't expected to make noise in the West playoff picture this season. So, Thursday's loss should only serve as a learning opportunity.

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Klay Thompson calls out Tari Eason for trash-talking from sidelines

Warriors star shooting guard Klay Thompson agreed with fans regarding Tari Eason's t-shirt diss. During Thursday's postgame interview, the four-time NBA champion questioned Eason's thought process.

“That’s pretty lame. Especially if you’re not even playing," Thompson said. "… But you’re just gonna be trolling from the sideline. Bro, what are we doing?”

However, Tari Eason appeared to be a good sport. After the game, he dapped up multiple Warriors players, including star forward Draymond Green, engaging in seemingly friendly conversation.

The Rockets will look to bounce back from Thursday's embarrassing showing when they host the Miami Heat (42-34) on Friday.

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