Earlier in the season, LeBron James got into it with Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane after the Los Angeles Lakers superstar did not appreciate Bane's rather exuberant celebration right after scoring an and-1 basket all over him. The pair had to be separated by their teammates after a bit of a shoving match and a heated exchange of pleasantries.
Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr. has now spoken out about that incident and apparently, this was a pretty big deal for the Grizzlies:
“Maybe the only reason that was probably a moment is cause obviously it’s LeBron, and we look up to him growing up,” Jackson said on a recent episode of The Lowe Post podcast with NBA insider Zach Lowe (h/t Jonathan Sherman of Lakers Daily). “That’s our generation’s [Michael] Jordan. … I can’t explain to you why we do it. We don’t ever talk about why. But we just know you gonna feel this. We work so hard. We work too hard for you not to feel this. … It’s never anything personal. … Bron definitely ain’t make it personal. … At the end of the day, he’s been doing this for a hundred years.”
It is clear that Jackson holds LeBron in very high regard and there's no denying that there's a lot of respect there. It sounds like the same holds true for Jackson's Grizzlies teammate. Perhaps it is this same reverence that pushes them to compete against LeBron at the highest level. Naturally, there might be some intense moments along the way. However, as Jackson expressed, it's never personal.
In case you haven't seen the moment between LeBron and Bane, here it is:
LeBron clearly didn't like how Bane bumped into him after the three-point play. However, after James gave him a bit of a shove, you can see in Bane's reaction that he was still holding back a bit as he went at LeBron. It is clear that for Bane, there exists a certain level of respect for one of the greatest players to have ever played the game. To some extent, though, this is exactly why young guys like Bane love going against LeBron James.
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