Ja Morant Gave Two Very Personal Reasons Why He Doesn’t Like the Lakers

Morant made his opinions very clear after the Grizzlies' win on Wednesday.
Ja Morant
Ja Morant / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

The Memphis Grizzlies’ emphatic 131-114 win over the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday may have been personal for star Ja Morant.

Morant, who finished with 20 points in the win, was jawing all night with Lakers’ Lebron James on the court at FedEx Forum. It started with James taunting Morant with the “too small” celebration after a big bucket in the second quarter and continued as the two players went at it for the entire game. 

Morant spoke about his competitive moments with James after the Grizzlies’ victory, telling reporters he “expected” that from the Lakers star but that he “don’t back down from nobody.”

He then went on to explain why he was holding a slight grudge against the Lakers.

“I don't like them,” Morant said. “They knocked me out of the playoffs. And then last year, we had a game and they came here popping on our home floor when I was in street clothes… (James) was just next on our schedule. The Lakers, actually, and I won’t even say him… Beat us on our home floor. They was laughing, playing, looking at me, talking. My message was I was in street clothes.”

The Lakers eliminated the Grizzlies in the first round of the 2023 NBA playoffs in a series that included a 40-point blowout in Game 6, the worst loss in Grizzlies playoff history.

Then, in a late regular season matchup last year, James and the Lakers appeared to have a little bit too much fun beating a banged-up Grizzlies side that was without Morant and Desmond Bane.

Morant and the Grizzlies have recently shared a chippy history with the Lakers, and that’s likely not going to change anytime soon. Up next for Memphis is a home matchup against the Washington Wizards on Friday.


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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL Network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. Outside of work, she has dreams of running her own sporty dive bar.