Tag: Grizzlies

Ja Morant caught flack for his ‘Fine in the West’ comments after being eliminated by the Lakers but he took it in stride

Fans didn’t hold back on Ja Morant and the Grizzlies

Ja Morant and the Grizzlies weren’t worried about the Western Conference at all back in December  — at least, according to Morant, anyway.

As it turns out, though, the Grizzlies should’ve been worried. Very worried. Memphis was eliminated by the No. 7 seed Lakers on Friday. And it wasn’t just that — they actually lost in Game 6 by 40 points to get eliminated.

That seems like the exact opposite of fine. It’s the exact opposite of the vibe Ja Morant gave Malika Andrews back in December when she asked him about what teams he should be watching.

He quite literally said “I’m fine in the West” when asked what opponents he should be worried about. Now, everyone is making fun of Morant and the Grizzlies for it.

To be fair to Ja, he is taking the criticism in stride. He knows what he said, he’s been hearing about it for months and he’s taking it on the chin. That’s the sign of a good trash-talker.

Still, that didn’t stop the jokes from flowing in.

LeBron James had the most harsh (but honest!) evaluation of his Game 5 performance against the Grizzlies

LeBron James wasn’t happy with his Game 5 performance at all.

LeBron James has seen a ton in the NBA. Nothing is truly going to phase him at this point.

The things he’s done in the clutch throughout his career show you exactly how unfazed this dude is. It’s to the point where he’s either going to have a great game or he won’t — and, normally, he does.

But on Wednesday night against the Grizzlies, boy, LeBron was bad. Very bad. For the first time in a long time he actually did look old.

RELATED: A timeline of Dillon Brooks’ and LeBron James’ beef history.

James was asked about his performance and how he hit the level he needed to hit to win the game. And, well, he had an extremely harsh critique of his own play after scoring just 15 points on 17 shots. He did grab 10 rebounds and dish out 5 assists, but it wasn’t enough.

And he was completely honest about his performance.

“Tonight, I was [expletive],” James told reporters after the game. “And I’ll be better in game 6.”

Totally fair, LeBron. Totally fair. His teammates aren’t concerned about it at all. Anthony Davis called James the greatest player to ever touch the court after this performance and said “he’ll be fine.”

James is definitely going to give it his best shot in Game 6. The Grizzlies better watch out.

NBA Twitter reacts to Lakers beating Grizzlies in Game 3: ‘Dillon Brooks got the wrong dogs in him’

It was an eventful night in L.A. with Dillon Brooks ejected for hitting LeBron James in the groin and Ja Morant going off for 45 points but the Lakers ultimately prevailed over Memphis 111-101. As always, NBA Twitter had a lot to say.

It was an eventful night in L.A. with Dillon Brooks ejected for hitting LeBron James in the groin and Ja Morant going off for 45 points (including 24 in the fourth quarter), but the Lakers ultimately prevailed over Memphis 111-101, thanks to a monster game by Anthony Davis.

As always, NBA Twitter had a lot to say.

Stephen A. Smith’s message to LeBron James on Dillon Brooks: ‘You gotta bust his [expletive]’

LeBron James is definitely going to try to score 40 on Dillon Brooks now

Dillon Brooks has been talking greasy to just about everyone in the NBA. It’s part of his game. Honestly, it’s kind of fun, too. The NBA needs more Black Air Force 1 energy in it.

But, man, he’s been coming especially hard at LeBron James for the last two weeks.

The dude just won’t stop poking the bear. First, he called James and the Lakers out before LA’s play-in game against the Timberwolves. Now, Brooks is calling James old — literally. He said he’s old, y’all!

RELATED: The beef history between LeBron James and Dillon Brooks.

It’s safe to say that Dillons Brooks has added himself to the list of LeBron James agitators. He’s now with the Joakim Noahs and Lance Stephensons of the world.

So, now, LeBron has to teach him a lesson. That’s if the Lakers want to win this series, anyway. Stephen A. Smith said as much on the latest episode of First Take. 

He matter-of-factly told James exactly how he needs to deal with Brooks.

“When you chirp like Dillon Brooks chirped last night, you gotta bust his [expletive]. Excuse my language. I’m not talking about Games 4, 5, 6, 7. Winning the series. I’m talking about a game where you make a statement and remind him who the hell you are. And this is one of those moments if you’re LeBron James. 

Honestly, folks? Stephen A. has a point here. Brooks ain’t wrong. James is well past his prime.

But the thing here is LeBron James is still, well, LeBron James. He’s one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball. He’s literally the NBA’s all-time leading scorer.

Dillon Brooks is out here calling that guy old. With his Stunna Shades on in the middle of a press scrum. It takes a lot of nerve to do that. Clearly, Brooks has all the nerve.

Game 3 is going to be so exciting. Buckle in, y’all. Bron is definitely going to try for 40.

LeBron James drew up a play calling his own number for the Lakers and, of course, it worked

LeBron James should do the whole “player-coach” thing for one game.

Of course, we all know LeBron James to be an extension of a coach on the court.

Obviously, he’s one of the smartest basketball players to ever touch the hardwood. The way he dissects defenses has been surgical throughout his career. It’s always been cool to watch. He’s crafty.

But yo. Who actually made this dude a literal coach on the court?

Bron really picked up the clipboard against the Grizzlies in the clutch moments of a playoff game and drew up a play. The thing about it, though, is that the play actually worked. The Lakers — well, uh, actually, LeBron himself — got the bucket.

That’s impressive, man. And, of course, it worked. It’s LeBron James. He’s one of the best basketball minds on the planet. If he wanted to do the whole “player-coach” thing, he probably could.

Now, it didn’t matter much in the grand scheme. The Grizzlies still won the game. And Dillon Brooks is still talking trash.

Expect a lot more of LeBron calling his own number in Game 3. Not just because the gameplan called for it, but Dillon Brooks did, too. He’s going to be out here looking for revenge.

NBA Twitter reacts to Lakers beating Grizzlies in wild Game 1: ‘Austin Reaves… Kobe of the Ozarks’

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Lakers stealing a wild Game 1 in Memphis against the Grizzlies.

The Los Angeles Lakers managed to steal Game 1 in Memphis over the Grizzlies after a 128-112 battle.

Rui Hachimura (29 points), a clutch Austin Reaves (14 points in the fourth quarter) and Anthony Davis (24 points, 12 rebounds, 7 blocks) led the Lakers to victory, while Memphis lost Ja Morant in the process with an apparent hand injury.

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to a wild Game 1.

Dillon Brooks asked for LeBron James in the first round of the playoffs, but he should be careful what he wishes for

Dillon Brooks needs to be more careful about what he wishes for

It’s very rare that you’ll see somebody actually request to play one of the greatest postseason performers to ever touch an NBA floor.

But Dillon Brooks ain’t just everybody. He’s Dillon Brooks. Is that a bad thing? Is it a good thing? We’ll have to find out.

History has shown us, though, it’s rarely turned out well when someone has called out LeBron James. Remember Joakim Noah? Or how about Lance Stephenson? There’s also my personal favorite, DeShawn Stevenson.

None of that worked out. But Brooks didn’t care at all. He did it anyway.

“I wouldn’t mind playing LeBron in a 7-game series. The legacy is there. First time back in the playoffs, knock him out right away. It’ll test us good. They got good pieces, good players. That’ll be a good 1st-round matchup for us.” 

Why — in the year of 2023 — are we still giving LeBron James bulletin board material? I just do not understand this, for the life of me.

Brooks’ teammates have to be giving him the stink face right now for this. That’s just not something you should probably be offering up publicly for everyone to see and hear.

But, also, it’s the Grizzlies. This isn’t shocking. This is actually just what they do. Ja Morant did tell us the Grizzlies were “fine” in the West.

LeBron James has other plans, though. Clearly.

Dillon Brooks took another hilarious shot at Draymond Green after the Grizzlies totally crushed the Warriors

Long live the Draymond Green-Dillon Brooks beef

The Warriors vs. the Grizzlies has easily become the NBA’s greatest rivalry — no matter how much either side tries to deny it — and at the center of it all is Draymond Green vs. Dillon Brooks.

Those two dudes clearly don’t like each other. They’ve both told us as much without mincing words at all. Green even called Brooks a whole bunch of names.

The petty beef continued on Thursday night after the Grizzlies beat the Warriors in the most convincing fashion. In the postgame interview, Brooks insisted that the TNT crew give a mic to Draymond so he can keep playing well.

“You should give the mic to Draymond. Make him keep talking about me…Make him keep talking about me so I can play better.” 

That’s hilarious. Obviously, Green told us before the game how much of a “clown” he thought Brooks was via his podcast. Clearly, Brooks heard that. And it motivated him.

It was clear from the beginning, too. The two even got into it during the game. The subject? Green’s podcast, obviously.

“That’s what I do. I talk. I told him to keep that mic thing…Keep doing his podcast. Keep blogging. Keep doing his thing off the court. You know, it’s cute. It’s fun for him.” 

Y’all. This is the absolute best. The funny part is you absolutely know Draymond is going to go podcast about this. He’s probably got something cooking up as we speak.

I will never get tired of this and I’m sure the rest of the league won’t, either.

Draymond Green savagely ripped Dillon Brooks in a long-awaited response to his comments

Draymond Green clearly doesn’t like Dillon Brooks, either

As soon as quotes from Dillon Brooks about not liking Draymond Green hit the internet, we all knew there’d eventually be a response from the Warriors forward.

And we also knew that he’d save it for his podcast. Because, well, let’s face it, folks. This is grade-A content. Can’t quite say I blame Green here. Got to get those downloads in, right?

Obviously, there’s a longstanding beef between the Warriors and the Grizzlies with these two sitting at the center of it. And that’s fine.

But, uh, man. Green didn’t pull any punches when it came to his response to Brooks. He broke down what Brooks said — sentence by sentence — and called him all sorts of names along the way. Idiot. Clown.  The whole list.

Here’s the part where Green just starts going in.

“I’m trying to figure out why they like you in Memphis. Or do they like you in Memphis? That’s a better question. I’m not sure your teammates like you. I can tell you why they like me over there. When you contribute the way that I have contributed to four championships, they tend to like you.”

And he finished it off with this.

“Next time you speak up on me, I hope you in a better situation than you in now. Where the guys you play with, actually enjoy playing with you because they actually think you’re contirbuting to winning. Cause it ain’t happening right now champ — Ah, you’re not a champ. You’re a clown. It ain’t happening for you.” 

My goodness, man. Draymond didn’t hold back on Brooks at all. The man just let it all out.

To be fair to him, Brooks started it, I guess? But, man. These are some harsh words. I’m sure Brooks didn’t expect anything less from the guy he says he doesn’t like, though.

Maybe one day these two will hash things out. On the other hand, after words like these? Probably not.

Ah well. At least we’ll get good basketball out of it.

Yellowstone National Park logs first grizzly bear sighting of 2023

A Yellowstone National Park biologist spotted a grizzly bear Tuesday while on a research flight, providing a stark reminder that spring is close at hand.

A Yellowstone National Park biologist spotted a grizzly bear Tuesday while on a research flight, providing a stark reminder that spring is just around the corner.

To be sure, despite frigid temperatures and an abundance of snow, this should not come as a surprise.

Tuesday’s sighting marked the third time in four years that the park’s first known grizzly bear sighting occurred March 7.  (In 2021, the first sighting was on March 13.)

The sighting, of an adult bear weighing 300 to 350 pounds, occurred near bison remains in the central-eastern portion of the park.

ALSO: Lifeguard has pointed response to girl harassing sea lion; video

The park explained in a news release that male grizzly bears typically emerge from hibernation in March. Female grizzlies with cubs usually wait until April or early May.

With the spring tourism season about to begin, bear management biologist Kerry Gunther issued this important advice:

“Spring visitors skiing, snowshoeing, or hiking in Yellowstone National Park are reminded to carry bear spray and be especially alert for bears near carcasses and areas with early spring green-up.

“These are the first foods sought out by grizzlies after emerging from hibernations.”

Park visitors are cautioned to maintain a distance of at least 100 yards from bears they spot in the Yellowstone wilderness.

–Generic grizzly bear image courtesy of Yellowstone National Park