Joe Ingles has quickly become one of the most beloved players in the NBA and has grown a reputation as one of the premier trash talkers in the league.

The 32-year-old Aussie has made a name for himself with his go-slow style of game as he plays a key role with the Utah Jazz.

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Saturday September 19th

His journey to the NBA has been unique, starting out in the NBL in Australia before playing for a long time in Europe before he made his way Stateside.

But since Ingles has been in the league and starred for the Jazz, his profile has only continued to grow.

A three-point marksman, Ingles put his name on the map during the NBA Playoffs in 2018 when he duelled with then Oklahoma City Thunder star Paul George.

Fans couldn’t get enough of the Ingles v George duel. Source: AFP

Sledging is a fine art and it’s one Ingles has mastered and George hasn’t been the only player to fall victim to Ingles.

But now the most ruthless sledge of the loveable Aussie’s NBA career has been revealed by ESPN’s Zach Lowe on the latest Lowe Post podcast.

Lowe: “Have you ever hurt someone’s feelings do you think?”

Ingles: “Nah. I don’t think anyone is going home like, ‘Damn that Australian kid really hurt my feelings’.”

Lowe: “I have one example.”

Ingles: “There’s no way you have an example.”

It’s then that Lowe goes into detail over the sledge Ingles delivered to a player who Lowe later says “isn’t in the league anymore”.

“I have an example, the player I will protect. One of your coaches told me, ‘Joe can get biting, Joe knows how to try and get under your skin’,” Lowe said.

“I’ll protect the player. Bench player was getting into the game, this is the story I heard — you do the thing where you ingratiate yourself and you act like you’re going to be his buddy.

Ingles has become a trash-talking master in the NBA. Source: AFP

“You say, ‘Hey man I notice team X — they’re not playing you hardly at all’.

“And so here’s the story I heard. The guy goes, ‘Yeah they’re not playing me’ and you go, ‘That’s tough’, kind of implying the team is really blowing it by not giving this guy more of an opportunity.

“Then the guy says back to you, ‘They’re not playing me, I don’t know what to tell you, I’m puzzled by it’ and you just say, ‘Well it’s because you’re trash’ right in his face.”

It’s then that Ingles jumps in to correct the story, stating he never called the player in question “trash”, instead calling him “terrible”.

Despite the clarification Lowe went on to explain that hearing that story “hurt my feelings” but Ingles says he delivered the brutal line “with a smile on my face”.

“I don’t think this guys is in the NBA anymore, maybe that was the moment that ruined his life,” Lowe says.

“That’s not my fault,” Ingles replied.



Asked if he felt bad about the line, Ingles said he never intends to cross the line with his sledging and most of the time says things with a chuckle.

“I was kind of laughing … maybe I am a bad person,” Ingles said.

The Utah Jazz have won 10 straight games and 15 of their past 16 and have become one of the most dominant teams in the league since Ingles returned to the starting line-up.

They’ll return to action on Friday when they go up against the New Orleans Pelicans at 12pm (AEDT).