Ja Morant Upset With Grizzlies’ Coaching Staff After Loss to Lakers: ‘Go Ask Him’

Morant had just eight points on 3-for-14 from the field Friday.

Ja Morant was frustrated with his coaches after a loss to the Lakers / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images

Ja Morant didn’t seem too happy with the Grizzlies’ coaching staff after Memphis lost 117–112 to the Lakers Friday in their first NBA Cup group game.

The star guard had a rough night from the field, scoring just eight points on 3-for-14 shooting and 0-for-6 on three-pointers while adding seven assists. As a media scrum surrounded his locker following the loss, he had a simple answer to every question he heard: “Go ask the coaching staff.”

When asked if there was anything he could have done differently in the game, Morant looked toward the coaches yet again, telling reporters to “go ask him” directing them toward Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo who took over after the team parted ways with Taylor Jenkins late last season. Since Morant had a default answer for any question, a reporter asked him what could have been done to get a different outcome other than asking the coaching staff, to which he provided an interesting response.

“According to them, probably don’t play me honestly,” he responded. “That’s basically what the message was after so, it’s cool.”

Ja Morant when asked questions from the media:

“Go ask the coaching staff.”

And then asked what could have been done differently, other than asking the coaching staff:

“According to them, probably don’t play me.”

(🎥 @50NuancesDeNBA)

pic.twitter.com/BNOIxhl0xa

— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) November 1, 2025

SI NBA Newsletter. Get SI's FREE NBA Newsletter. dark. SIGN UP NOW

Morant seemed to allude to a message received from his coaches after the game that didn’t sit right with him. Blake Griffin, an analyst for NBA on Prime Video, wasn’t thrilled with the effort he saw from Morant during the tough loss to the Lakers.

Blake Griffin just called out Ja Morant for not showing any effort against his matchup with Luka Doncicpic.twitter.com/QtJkgpozk2

— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) November 1, 2025

Luka Dončić dropped 44 points with 12 rebounds and six assists for the Lakers Friday. He won the battle between the star guards by a landslide and may have caused some friction in the Grizzlies’ locker room in the process.

---

More NBA on Sports Illustrated

feed