Marcus Morris Says He's the Best Player at Defending LeBron James Besides Kawhi Leonard
Celtics forward Marcus Morris spoke to reporters with a lot of confidence Saturday when discussing matching up with LeBron James on defense.
When talking about the experience he gained from guarding James in the 2016 postseason, Morris made a claim that many think might not have been the best thing to say.
"I'm a little older, a little more experienced," Morris said according to Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com. "Personally, I think I'm probably the best guy in the league defending him outside of Kawhi [Leonard]."
With a matchup against the Cavaliers scheduled for Sunday at 3:30 p.m. EST, plenty of people looked at this statement, combined with a deleted tweet from the Celtics about history showing Morris could slow down James, as nothing more than fuel for the four-time MVP.
Morris did clarify his statement, explaining it will take a team effort just to slow down James and adding, "He's the best player in this game. My thing is just cut down on easy buckets," according to Forsberg.
Morris also mentioned he felt the Celtics would be more physical with James than the Raptors were in the previous series, and stressed the idea of not letting James look more "confident" than he already is by preventing "easy" shots.
Since returning to Cleveland in 2014, James swept the Celtics in the first round in 2015, then swept Morris' Pistons in the first round in 2016 and then defeated Boston in five games in the conference finals last year.
