Grizzlies’ Ja Morant gets technical after hitting Lakers’ LeBron James

On By Littum

Things are getting spicy between the Memphis Grizzlies and the Los Angeles Lakers.

A second-quarter sequence between Ja Morant and LeBron James led to the Grizzlies point guard bumping James in the back and drawing a technical foul.

Morant drove to the basket and scored over Lakers guard Gabe Vincent before lowering his hand to the ground and signaling the “too small” gesture.

James later returned the favor. While isolated against Morant, James lowered his shoulder into the smaller Grizzlies guard and scored over him, pulling off the same gesture.

As he got back to his feet, Morant laughed before taking the ball up the floor and scoring against the Lakers. After the basket, Morant ran toward James and bumped him in the back just enough for the officials to stop the action and call a technical foul.

Things have been simmering between the Lakers and Grizzlies for the past few seasons. James called out the Grizzlies in 2022 for their trash talking and later helped the Lakers defeat Memphis in the first round of the 2023 playoffs.

Grizzlies players weren’t too pleased last season when James had a breakout dunk near the end of an April Lakers win in Memphis and posed in front of a group of injured players that included Morant, Desmond Bane and Luke Kennard.

Wednesday’s sequence at FedExForum is the latest and likely won’t be the last competitive sequence between these two Western Conference contenders.

Damichael Cole is the one Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at [email protected]. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.