Ja Morant's memory is precise when it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers.

He remembers the feeling of being put out by the Lakers in the 2023 playoffs, and he remembers standing by the bench last season while LeBron James threw down a windmill dunk.

All of that factored into the edge Morant played with in the Memphis Grizzlies' 131-114 victory Wednesday night at FedExForum.

"I don't like them," Morant said of the Lakers.

He pulled out the "too little" gesture after scoring over Gabe Vincent in the second quarter. Seconds later, James returned the favor after using his strength to knock Morant to the floor and score over the smaller guard.

When the Grizzlies got the ball back, Morant scored and headed in the direction of James and bumped him in the back. He was issued a technical foul on the play.

"I don't back down from nobody," Morant said. "I don't care who you are. My job was to come back. I got my bucket and I set the tone. My teammates fed off of it and you see what happened."

History of Grizzlies' core vs Lakers

It's not just Morant. The other two members of the Grizzlies' core three players aren't Lakers fans, either.

History between them and the Lakers can be traced back to January 2022. A bump from James into the back of Desmond Bane led to a back-and-forth where James told Grizzlies players to stop disrespecting him. Bane admitted that tempers flared, but that was the moment teams knew that "nobody was punking the Grizzlies."

Bane didn't play Wednesday because of an oblique injury, but he still threw in a subtle jab. When Scotty Pippen Jr. was being interviewed by FanDuel Sports Network after the game, Bane interrupted with a message.

"Y'all seen the way he snatched the ball from that old man over there," Bane said, referring to Pippen's fourth-quarter steal on James, who turns 40 in December.

The last Memphis playoff game was an embarrassing 40-point Game 6 loss at the hands of the Lakers on April 28, 2023 — the worst loss in Grizzlies playoff history.

"For sure, the playoffs was a bitter taste," Jaren Jackson Jr. said. "Any team we play in the playoffs, win or lose, it's just forever beef."

Another moment came late in the 2024 season. James threw down a reverse windmill dunk and looked over at the Grizzlies bench with a smile on his face. Morant and Bane, both injured, were two of the players directly in front of James.

Wednesday was Morant's first game against the Lakers since that encounter.

"They came on our home floor and beat us on our home floor — was laughing, playing, looking at me, talking," Morant said. "My message was I was in street clothes."

James led the Lakers on Wednesday with a game-high 39 points, plus seven rebounds and six assists.

"He's a top dog in our league," Morant said. "Take out the top dog, who else you fear?"

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Latest on Morant injury

Morant didn't finish Wednesday's game due to a right hamstring injury. The injury happened on an alley-oop pass from Jake LaRavia, and both players believe Morant was fouled on the play.

"It was unfortunate what happened, but I thought there was a lot of contact," LaRavia said.

Memphis will be back in action Friday against the Washington Wizards. Although Morant said he feels "all right," he was noncommittal on being available.

"We'll see," he said.

Damichael Cole is the Memphis Grizzlies beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Damichael at damichael.cole@commercialappeal.com. Follow Damichael on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DamichaelC.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis Grizzlies' Ja Morant explains why he doesn't like LA Lakers