Morant wants the league to know he isn’t scare of anyone

LEBRON James and Ja Morant got into a heated exchange during a matchup on Wednesday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies got into a bit of a bust-up during their early-season matchup.

LeBron James and Ja Morant got into a heated moment on the courtCredit: Getty

Morant was seen slamming into LeBron during the gameCredit: NBA

In the Grizzlies’ 131-114 win over the Lakers, Morant and LeBron traded blows.

Things eventually boiled over after LeBron scored a tough bucket over Morant and hit the “too small” celebration on top of him.

Morant wasn’t going to let that slide, and later scored on a tough shot of his own.

After he scored, Morant tracked down LeBron and shoulder-checked him in the back.

While LeBron didn’t see it coming, the refs saw it and quickly issued a technical foul to Morant, but the young star was already fired up.

The Lakers and Grizzlies had a rivalry budding in the 2022-23 season, and it appears that it may be blossoming this year.

The Grizzlies came out on top in this edition of the rivalry, but LeBron shared that he loved the intensity from Morant.

“Two guys from the inner city that love to compete,” he said.

“We all grew up playing on a black top, playing outside, and competing at a high level when there’s no cameras around.

“It’s a bunch of s*** talking going on and playing the game. That’s what the essence of the game is all about.”

Morant didn’t share the same classy feelings as LeBron though, delivering scathing remarks in his postgame conference.

“Top dog in our league. You take out the top dog, who else you fear? I don’t fear nobody anyway,” he said.

“I ain’t have to get up. I ain’t been down. They beat us last time. I didn’t get to play, like I said, last year.

“They came on our home floor, beat us on our home floor, was laughing, playing, looking at me talking.

“My message was I was in street clothes. This is my first opportunity to get back on the floor playing against them.”

Time for LeBron to retire?

“At the end of the day, I hate to say it, but I believe this in my soul right now – I wish LeBron James would retire.

“Not because I don’t want to see more of LeBron James, not because I don’t appreciate LeBron James.

“But I honestly believe deep down inside, the more LeBron James continues to play the game of basketball, the more it’s going to hurt his legacy and the more it’s going to continue to hurt his GOAT argument.

“As long as he steps foot on that floor, every single season, there’s gonna expectations of him winning a championship.

“And when he don’t do that, we’re gonna be looking at him saying: ‘Well what happened now?'”

ESPN star Kendrick Perkins speaking on First Take about LeBron James’ future in the NBA

Even though the Lakers lost, NBA fans appeared to be overwhelmingly on LeBron’s side in the new rivalry on social media.

“Ja is so corny man. He didn’t even hit that shot on Bron lmfaoooo,” one fan said.

“I guess Morant’s feelings got hurt,” another fan said.

“He ran into Bron but refuse to make eye contact,” a third fan said.

“One of these plays was actually tough the other was a cope play,” a fourth fan said.

Fans took LeBron’s side in the heated momentCredit: NBA