Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant explains why he doesn’t like the Lakers

On November 7, 2024By Littum

Yes Morant’s memory is accurate when it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers.

He remembers the feeling of being ousted by the Lakers in the 2023 playoffs, and he remembers standing on the bench injured last season while LeBron James ran through a windmill dunk.

All of that was in the rim Morant played with in the Grizzlies’ 131-114 win Wednesday night at FedExForum.

“I don’t like them,” Morant said of the Lakers.

Morant pulled out the “too little” gesture after scoring over Gabe Vincent in the second quarter. Seconds later, James returned the favor after using his strength to knock Morant to the floor and score over the smaller guard.

When the Grizzlies got the ball back, Morant scored and headed toward James, bumping him in the back. He received a technical foul on the game.

“I don’t back down from anybody,” Morant said. “I don’t care who you are. My job was to come back. I got my bucket and I set the tone. My teammates fed off that and you see what happened.”

The story of Grizzlies core vs Lakers

It’s not just Morant. The other two members of the Grizzlies’ core three players are also not Lakers fans.

The history between this Grizzlies core and the Lakers can be traced back to January 2022. A bump from James into the back of Bane led to a back and forth in which James told the Grizzlies players to stop disrespecting him. Bane admitted that tempers flared, but that was the moment the teams knew “nobody punks the Grizzlies.”

Bane didn’t play in Wednesday’s win because of an oblique injury, but he still threw a subtle jab at James. When Scotty Pippen Jr. was interviewed by Fanduel Sports Network after the game, Bane interrupted with a message.

“You all saw the way he grabbed the ball off the old man over there,” Bane said, referring to Pippen’s fourth-quarter steal on the 39-year-old James.

The last Grizzlies playoff game was an embarrassing 40-point Game 6 loss at the hands of the 2023 Lakers. It was the worst loss in Grizzlies playoff history.

“Yeah, the playoffs were a bitter taste,” Jaren Jackson Jr. said. “Any team we play in the playoffs, win or lose, it’s just forever beef.”

Another came late in the 2024 season. James through a reverse windmill dunk and looked over at the Grizzlies bench with a smile on his face. Morant and Bane, both injured, were two of the players directly ahead of James.

Wednesday was Moran’s first game against the Lakers since that meeting.

“They came on our home floor and beat us on our home floor — laughing, playing, looking at me and talking,” Morant said. “My message was that I was in street clothes.”

James led the Lakers, finishing with 39 points to lead all scorers.

“He’s a top dog in our league,” Morant said. “Take out the top dog, who else do you fear?”

Morant injury most recently

Morant did not finish Wednesday’s game because of a right hamstring injury. The injury occurred on an alley-oop pass from Jake LaRavia. Both Morant and LaRavia felt the Grizzlies point guard was fouled on the play.

“It was unfortunate what happened, but I thought there was a lot of contact,” LaRavia said.

Memphis will be back in action on Friday against the Washington Wizards. Although Morant feels “okay,” he was noncommittal about being available.

“We’ll see,” he said.

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.