Kansas Jayhawks Basketball: Former Jayhawk Marcus Morris stepping up big for Boston Celtics

Marcus Morris was a beast for the Kansas Jayhawks. Now he is doing the same for the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals against Lebron James.

Many former Kansas Jayhawks are spread throughout the NBA. There are currently two Jayhawks that are still playing in the playoffs. Boston Celtic’s Marcus Morris and the Houston Rockets’ Tarik Black.

Marcus Morris has chosen to take the main stage, accepting the challenge of guarding Lebron James. In fact, Morris asked for the daunting assignment. On Saturday, Morris made the comment that shook social media to its core. A bold move by the former Kansas Jayhawks forward.

"Personally, I think I’m probably the best guy defending him in the league, outside of Kawhi(Leonard)."

To be clear, that quote was just a snippet of what Morris went on to say about James, mentioning how one single person can’t guard James by himself, as you can see in this article by SB Nation.  The cockiness of Morris’ quote set up a nice storyline for Game 1. All eyes were on that matchup. All eyes will be on that matchup for the rest of the series.

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To be fair to Morris, we all should know Lebron James is one of the greatest basketball players ever, whether you like him or not. Morris is not on James’ level. If he can come close for a series, good things can happen for the Boston Celtics.

Backing up his mouth

Marcus Morris didn’t defend James the entire game, but when he did, he actually backed up his quote. Lebron was held to 15 points on 5-16 shooting, failed to make a shot beyond the arc, and had seven turnovers on the way to a Celtics drubbing over the Cleveland Cavaliers, 108-83.

After the game, the internet went crazy once again. the masses came out with creative memes before the game practically making fun of Morris for suggesting such a thing. After Game 1, apologies were bountiful from many of those that had talked the most smack.

The instances that Morris did guard Lebron, he came through masterfully as seen from this tweet by the NBA on ESPN.

While at Kansas, Marcus Morris averaged 12.6 points and 6.2 rebounds per game according to sportsreference.com. Morris won the Big 12 Player of the Year award in his junior and final year at Kansas. That season he averaged 17.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.

He was selected 14th overall by the Houston Rockets in the 2011 NBA Draft. Since then he has played no more than three seasons for each of the three previous teams before signing with the Boston Celtics in the 2017 offseason.

Next: Best seasons ever for Kansas

Time will tell if Morris can keep Lebron tamed, and history says Lebron will find his game sooner than later. His Celtics are three games away from heading to the NBA Finals.