Getty Montrezl Harrell with Marcus Morris.
If the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers didn’t like each other last season, they’re probably going to like each other even less this year. The Lakers picked up Montrezl Harrell in free agency and the move probably didn’t sit very well with most of the Clippers’ roster. Marcus Morris was one of the view players they retained in free agency and he sounds like he’s got a massive chip on his shoulder.
Morris got to talk about the losses of Harrell and JaMychal Green this offseason and used some strong language to describe what the Clippers plan to do to them.
“We’re just gonna have to beat their a** too,” Morris said Thursday, via Farbod Esnaashari of Sports Illustrated.
Morris has a strong personality but the Clippers aren’t better than the Lakers so they’re going to have a hard time living up to his claim.
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Morris Throws Shade at Nuggets
Despite the disastrous ending to the Clippers’ season, Morris is still supremely confident. They had one of the worst collapses in recent playoff history against the Denver Nuggets but Morris still decided to take a shot at them.
“I think it hurt people being up 3-1,” Morris said. “It’s not about the losing, it’s about how we lost. And I think that’s the biggest motivation for this team, because at the end of the day, that team wasn’t better than us. We all knew that. To be up and to lose, I think that put an extra sting in our mentality.”
Prior to the series, nobody thought the Nuggets were better than the Clippers. From a talent and experience standpoint, nobody would argue against that statement. That said, it’s not good to lose a seven-game series to a team that is worse than you. Perhaps the Clippers just needed to be humbled and will come back and actually play well this year.
Markieff Morris Never Considered Joining Clippers
Early in free agency, there were rumors circulating that not only were the Clippers going to retain Marcus Morris, they were also involved in trying to sign his brother Markieff Morris. It would be weird to have two of essentially the same player on one team but it could’ve been a move to hurt the Lakers. However, Markieff ended up sticking with the purple and gold. He had a chance to dish on the Clippers rumors.
“That was just talk, man. They were trying to scare the Lakers fans,” Morris said Thursday.
The two Morris brothers did play together in Phoenix early in their careers but haven’t played on the same team in a while. Since they are very close, it makes sense for them to play in the same city but it’s probably better for them to be on separate teams. Marcus has always been thought to be the superior Morris but Markieff was really good for the Lakers in the playoffs last year. Plus, they got him for significantly cheaper than the Clippers got Marcus.
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