LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers suffered their fourth loss of the season on Wednesday night, losing by 17 points to Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies. This defeat marked the end of a tough 1-4 road trip and left the Lakers at a .500 record of 4-4 after starting the season 3-0.
Despite the loss, it doesn’t seem to be a sign of bigger problems for the Lakers. They were missing two key starters in Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura, as well as still being without Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood. Additionally, Christian Koloko was playing his first NBA game in over a year.
Perhaps the most motivated player on the floor was Ja Morant. He had a few key moments with LeBron James that showed how fired up he was for the chance to take down the Lakers.
“I mean, I think I did the ‘Too small’ to somebody who was too small,” Morant said. “He came back and did it respectfully. He’s 6’8” or whatever, I would expect it. I thought it was a charge but he did it and I don’t back down from nobody. I don’t care who you are.”
Morant added that his goal was to set the tone, and he believed his performance helped energize his teammates. He explained, “My job was just to come back. I got my bucket and I set the tone. My teammates fed off of it and you saw what happened.
The top dog in our league, you take out the top dog and who else do you fear? I don’t fear nobody anyway, but I don’t back down.”
Morant’s frustration with the Lakers goes beyond just this game. He has developed a dislike for the team after they eliminated his Grizzlies in the playoffs in recent years.
“I don’t like ‘em. They knocked me out the playoffs. And then last year we had a game and they came in here and popped it on our home floor when I was in street clothes. I wasn’t tonight.”
Although Morant said he wasn’t looking ahead to facing the Lakers, he relished the chance to get a win over them after the past encounters.
“Nah. He was just next on the schedule,” Morant said. “Lakers, actually. I wouldn’t even say him. Lakers. They beat us last time, I didn’t get to play like I said, last year.
They came on our home floor and beat us on our home floor and was laughing, playing, looking at me, talking. My message was ‘I was in street clothes.’ This was my first opportunity to get back on the floor playing against them.”
While the Lakers are often seen as a major challenge by many teams, even when there isn’t a personal rivalry, Morant and the Grizzlies came out on top in this game, especially with the Lakers shorthanded. But there will be more chances for both teams to face off this season.
D’Angelo Russell has had a tough start to the 2024-25 season, and his struggles continued against the Grizzlies, where he shot just 4-of-12 from the field for 12 points. The Lakers ended up losing 131-114, finishing their road trip on a disappointing note.
Russell’s performance wasn’t up to par, and he appeared lackluster during parts of the game. After some rough plays in the third quarter, head coach JJ Redick decided to bench Russell in favor of Gabe Vincent for the rest of the game.
