The Memphis Grizzlies were a young team searching for their ninth straight win in January 2022 when they caught the attention of LeBron James. A slight bump from James to Desmond Bane's back after the Grizzlies shooting guard made a layup in the second quarter started a wave of competitive trash talk.

By the third quarter, the Grizzlies were dominating the Los Angeles Lakers. Not too many people were aware of the personalities that this future No. 2-seeded team possessed, and their ability to get under the skin of opponents with competitive banter.

Then, James had enough after Bane hit a transition 3-pointer in the third quarter and let a trailing James know that his "big footsteps" weren't scaring him.

"This your last time disrespecting me," James said to Bane while the Grizzlies held a 78-58 lead and Ja Morant headed to the free-throw line.

As more players got in between James and Bane, referees and players tried to calm the Lakers star.

"I'm not chilling," James said. "He ain't hooping. He talking (expletive)."

The Grizzlies went on to win that game 127-119, but James finished with 35 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Bane led the Grizzlies with 23 points.

"Just two competitors getting after it," Bane said. "Obviously both of us are trying to win a game, trying to lead our teams to where we ultimately want to get at the end of the year."

Before that January 2022 moment, the Grizzlies' identity on a national level was still rooted in the seeds planted during the grit-and-grind era. While this generation has similarities, the Grizzlies have created their own culture, and that exchange with James was a prime example of the shift into a new age.

"Tempers flared and that was that, but I think from then on out, everybody knew that nobody was punking the Grizzlies," Bane said.

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A little more than 15 months later, the Lakers and Grizzlies are matched up in a first-round playoff series. Now, it's no secret the Grizzlies have done their share of talking that coach Taylor Jenkins likes to call swagger.

Most of the bulletin board material for opponents this season has been provided by Ja Morant and Dillon Brooks. Morant said he was "fine in the West" in December, and Brooks recently called James "old."

Just like how opposing players are aware of the past things said by the Grizzlies, so are the fans. Brooks has often been booed on the road, and that's unlikely to change at Crypto.com Arena.

One difference from last season is how Memphis was one of the NBA's best road teams at 26-15. This season, the Grizzlies went 16-25 and are still searching for that road warrior mentality.

Along with Jaren Jackson Jr., Bane and Brooks are two of the players who Memphis needs to produce. Bane called Crypto.com Arena his second favorite in the NBA behind Madison Square Garden.

After the Lakers missed the postseason last year, Crypto.com Arena is expected to be loud. They're also aware of all the recent transactions between Grizzlies and Lakers players, including Brooks' recent comments on James.

When the starting lineups are introduced Saturday, the Lakers faithful likely will shower Brooks with boos, but he's looking forward to it.

"I get booed everywhere I go," Brooks said. "It doesn't matter to me. It just gets me going. ... It just goes to show that people know the name, and they got to boo the name Dillon Brooks."

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Grizzlies-Lakers: Talking trash to LeBron James created Memphis swagger