NBA legend LeBron James is happy the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Markieff Morris from the Dallas Mavericks in the Luka Doncic trade

NBA legend LeBron James is happy the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Markieff Morris from the Dallas Mavericks in the Luka Doncic trade.

LeBron and Morris helped the Lakers win the 2020 championship against the Miami Heat at the Walt Disney World bubble.

“I missed him,” LeBron told NBA reporter Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times. “We’ve been in the foxhole together. We’ve been on the floor during big games together. And there’s someone whose opinion I value very much when I come off the floor. He’s watching it. He’s seeing it. I’m just happy to have him back. It’s great to see him.”

Morris isn’t in the Lakers’ rotation.

However, whenever Morris talks, players listen.

“The world that we live in today, a lot of people can’t take the truth in their face. A lot of people don’t know what respect is,” Morris said. “We live in a world with a lack of respect. And that’s what I stand on. It doesn’t matter who you are. That’s first things first with me. And I feel as though, me personally, if I can’t say what I want, if I can’t say what I want, if I can’t say the right things to the people that need to hear them, I’m useless. There’s not too many people in the world like me that’s going to just be up front with anybody. That’s the way it needs to be said.

“Like I say every day, I don’t have s— to lose. My 14th year. I don’t play anyway. So what? You going to get mad because I said a certain thing? I don’t have nothing to lose.”

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Morris isn’t in the Lakers’ rotation.

However, whenever Morris talks, players listen.

“The world that we live in today, a lot of people can’t take the truth in their face. A lot of people don’t know what respect is,” Morris said. “We live in a world with a lack of respect. And that’s what I stand on. It doesn’t matter who you are. That’s first things first with me. And I feel as though, me personally, if I can’t say what I want, if I can’t say what I want, if I can’t say the right things to the people that need to hear them, I’m useless. There’s not too many people in the world like me that’s going to just be up front with anybody. That’s the way it needs to be said.

“Like I say every day, I don’t have s— to lose. My 14th year. I don’t play anyway. So what? You going to get mad because I said a certain thing? I don’t have nothing to lose.”

The Lakers are in third place in the Western Conference standings under first-year head coach JJ Redick, who knows how valuable Morris is for his locker room.

“I think it’s very valuable to have a guy like that, a voice, an older voice, someone who’s seen it all in the NBA, someone who’s won a championship, obviously that helps as well,” Redick said. “He’s been great on the bench with talking with guys, making sure our bench energy is good. I told him the other day, we see it and we appreciate it and we all just value what he’s doing right now from that aspect in leadership.”