Ja Morant on Lakers: 'I don't like them'

Ja Morant's memory is precise when it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers. He remembers the feeling of being put out by the Lakers in the 2023 playoffs, and he remembers standing on the bench injured last season while LeBron James through down a windmill dunk. All of that factored into the edge Morant played with in the Grizzlies' 131-114 victory on 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.

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Eurohoops Eurohoopsnet Ja Morant's response to Lebron's "too small" pic! pic.x.com/AGpO184BA8 – 4:29 AM Damichael Cole DamichaelC Ja Morant thought back to a game late last season against the Lakers when he was injured. "They came on our home floor and beat us on our home floor — was laughing, playing, looking at me talking." He got a chance to respond on Wednesday. commercialappeal.com/story/sports/n... – 1:36 AM Drew Hill DrewHill_DM Ja Morant didn't like the Lakers clowning around while he was out last season. He came back on Wednesday — with some friends who used to wear purple and gold — to take care of business. "I don't like 'em" dailymemphian.com/section/sports... – 1:24 AM Mike Trudell LakersReporter Ja Morant came up limping and called for a sub after an aerial play went awry; he landed awkwardly on his foot/ankle. Memphis leads 87-75 with 3:27 left in the 3rd period. – 9:44 PM Drew Hill DrewHill_DM Ja Morant is headed to the locker room after falling awkwardly on the alley-oop attempt. – 9:43 PM Khobi Price khobi_price Halftime: Grizzlies 59, Lakers 53. The intensity and energy in the building picked up toward the end of the 2Q after LeBron James and Ja Morant exchanged buckets and taunts. LeBron: 22 points on 9-14 shooting. – 9:14 PM

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"I don't like them, they knocked me out the playoffs and then last year they were talking crazy while I was in street clothes..... not tonight though..." — Ja Morant after being asked about Lakers team -via reddit / November 7, 2024 Morant didn't finish Wednesday's game due to a right hamstring injury. The injury happened on an alley-oop pass from Jake LaRavia. Both Morant and LaRavia felt like 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 he feels "alright," he was non-committal on being available. "We'll see," he said . -via Memphis Commercial Appeal / November 7, 2024 When the Grizzlies got the ball back, Morant scored and headed in the direction of James and bumped him in the back. He was issued a technical foul on the play. "I don't back down from nobody," 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 of it and you see what happened." -via Memphis Commercial Appeal / November 7, 2024