Markieff Morris had not met Dalton KnechtKnowing him only anyone in basketball knew him-as a daring marker who dominated university basketball in Tennessee before blinking this ability to get bucket in the NBA.
The two were now teammates, the veteran and the recruit, Morris exchanged Lakers with Luka Donic and Maxi Kleber while Knecht referred to the team After her business with Charlotte against Mark Williams collapsed.
During these first meetings, Knecht was not the same person or confident player. The NBA affairs had just struck him directly upside down, a team showing little hesitation in sending it through the door to be forced to welcome it due to a failed Williams physique.
At best, it was embarrassing. At worst, it was a problem.
While Knecht dealt with how he wanted to go back to a place where he no longer felt sought after, Morris approached him for a conference.
“Be ready. Anyway, be you, ”he told Knecht. “When you get the ball, go for it. And play as how you play, with confidence, how you played Tennessee.
“… In the end, just be. Be ready to shoot. Stay confident. If they wanted the job, as who gives AF—? Go there and stay confident.
The speech had, Knecht taking over his place, his joy on the field and his place in the rotation of the Lakers during their undefeated six game house. During this section, Knecht collected on average 9.3 points and made almost 45.8% of its three -point shots. His buzzer drummer at the end of the third quarter Thursday propelled a return Against the Knicks.
In this same match, Morris sat on the Lakers bench and sipped with a cup of tea. He was fighting a disease but was still there, looked, spoke, advised. During this six -game house, Morris did not play a single minute.
The acquisition of Doncic has helped bring Showtime to the Lakers to fill the court seats with list of list A while one of the best basketball showmen delights on the Golden scene. The addition of Morris, one of the real-elected representatives of the NBA, of the NBA, strengthened their cloakroom, a behind-the-scenes advantage that has desperately missed.
“I missed it,” LeBron James said in Times. “… We were in the fox hole together. We were on the ground during the big games together. And there is someone whose opinion I appreciate when I go from the ground. He looks at him. He sees it. I’m just happy to find him. It’s great to see it.
To be honest, Morris wants fans of the Lakers to have seen it more. The competitive fire that kept him in the NBA for 14 seasons burns always intensely, his unshakable conviction that he has productive minutes in his legs.
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Morris also knows that the ways he heard could have more importance to his new team, that his ability to credibly offer the same type of advice to Knecht as possible to James, a 22 -year -old NBA veteran with whom he won a championship in 2020, place him in a unique position as a person who can say verification without fear of repercussion.
There is a chance that his influence outside the field and the real possibility that Kleber returns from feet surgery before the playoffs move around the margins that end up importing with the obvious therefore.
“The world in which we live today, many people cannot face the truth. Many people don’t know what respect is, “said Morris.” We live in a world with a lack of respect. And that’s what I am on. It doesn’t matter who you are. These are the first things with me. And I feel like, personally, if I cannot say what I want, if I cannot say what I want, if I cannot say good things to people who need to hear them, I am useless. There are not too many people in the world like me who will be in advance with anyone. This is how it must be said.
“As I say every day, I have no s – to lose. My 14th year. I don’t play anyway. So what? Are you going to go crazy because I said a certain thing? I have nothing to lose.
As Morris arrived at the Lakers, James had already bought completely, responding to the losses of the eruption in Minnesota and Miami with a level of constant energy and defensive attention that went bankrupt his team in the classification of the Western Conference. But still, the Lakers missed a particular set of railings.
James had done deep races with head coaches during their first year with the Lakers twice before, winning a title with Frank Vogel and going to the conference final with Darvin Ham. But these teams had veterinarians that James trusted, a close confidant to Jared Dudley in 2020 and later, a former championship teammate in Tristan Thompson.
The Lakers, after the two seasons,, however, fell to re-signal the players in favor of those who, according to them, could better contribute on the field.
“Obviously, our league is trying to get away from having guys like that,” said James. “Like veterinarians means something for a team.”
Not all veterans are able to direct the same way as Morris. Some still have visions of their young people, taking control of the games and dominant. Others are not as naturally grainy, as physically intimidating – “He is tall like S—!” Knecht said – or ready to get uncomfortable.
“I think it’s very precious to have a guy like that, an older voice, someone who saw everything in the NBA, someone who won a championship, it obviously helps,” said coach JJ Redick. “He was great on the bench to speak with the guys, to make sure that our bench energy is good. I told him the other day, we see him and we appreciate him and we all appreciate what he is doing right now of this leadership aspect. “”
Austin Reaves, who, like Knecht, had never met Morris before becoming teammates in February, said that Morris had withdrawn him in a match last month to give him advice on how to better manage the pressure of the ball by getting closer to half of the field to start the actions of Pick-And-Roll with big opponents, creating more space to win an advantage.
“He is constantly speaking in the game. I think he has a very good IQ and there have been a few situations where he dissected the game of the bench and comes to me from what I could do to be more effective,” said Reaves. “… These are just little things that he sees in the game but I think he does a good job to vocalize them.”
And because Morris, as James said, was in the fox hole with him, he can even go on the top scorer of all time in the NBA when the moment calls him.
“(LeBron) also needs help. Everyone just thinks he knows everything, “said Morris.” Yeah, he knows the game a lot, but for him, he can use a guy who is: “Yo, have you seen that there? You can do it. Yeah, and it’s me. I can say:” Look. Bron, get your ass. Look, you must also run. ‘”
The list of people who can do this credible with James is short, as they age from the League, this list shrinks each season. Morris is one of the few in the game.
While the teams build their lists with each offseason, they are looking for shooters such as Knecht, for defensive caps such as Jarred Vanderbilt, for offensive initiators or executors or shooters.
In Morris, they have another type of specialist who does his job without recovering a basketball a lot of times on the night of the night by giving honest assessments to everyone without prejudice.
“I’m not afraid,” said Morris. “… I do the same with Luka, the same with Kyrie (Irving). It doesn’t matter. Because at the end of the day, I feel like it would improve them. In the same way they would do me to make me better .. Do you know what I say? If I’m wrong about something, tell me I’m wrong. Don’t just let me say the bad s -, do you know what I say?
“And the league simply does not appreciate it.”
It could be true, but the Lakers know how much Morris is and how important it will be when they continue a championship.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
