Former Los Angeles Lakers point guard Darius Morris has died at age 33.
“We are heartbroken by the passing of Darius Morris,” the team said in a post on X Saturday accompanied by a picture of the former player.
Morris’ family announced his death in a statement shared with TMZ on Saturday.
“With great sadness we announce the passing of our dearly beloved son, Darius Aaron Morris. During this time of transition, his family asks that you please respect their wishes for privacy and grace,” the statement read.
His body was found in the Los Angeles area, according to TMZ. The Lakers and his family did not provide a cause of death.
Morris was a standout player at the University of Michigan before going on to be a second-round pick for the Lakers in the 2011 draft. He went on to play for the Los Angeles Clippers, the Brooklyn Nets, the Philadelphia 76ers and other teams.
Morris then played professionally in China and France and last played in 2019-20, according to ESPN.
DENVER – Anthony Edwards is 22. That’s a fact. It can also be interpreted as a promise, or an excuse.
For too much of Tuesday night, it approximated his shooting percentage.
In the biggest game of his career, Edwards found himself trading shots with the best player in the world, which is another way of saying that, however promising he is, Edwards is not yet close to being the best player in the world.
On a night when Nikola Jokic received his third MVP award and proceeded to put on a stunning display of offensive dexterity, Edwards was passive early, inaccurate later and ineffective overall in the face of the Denver Nuggets’ smothering defense in the Timberwolves’ 112-97 loss to the Nuggets in Game 5 at Ball Arena.
The Nuggets flanked Edwards with defenders all night, leaving him with nowhere to go with the ball.
With starting point guard Mike Conley out with a strained Achilles tendon, Edwards was charged with starting and finishing the offense. He handled the former far better than the latter.
He produced nine assists, proving he was willing to make the right play, but when the Wolves were forced to call timeout after a Jokic dunk with 7:12 left in the game, Edwards had four turnovers and three made field goals.
Wolves coach Chris Finch defended Edwards. Edwards admitted he had never seen a defense quite so effective and focused.
What is being asked of Edwards – to outplay Jokic and outmaneuver a veteran defense – is both unfair and necessary.
And while Finch, Edwards and the rest of the Wolves can excuse his inaccurate shooting, he is not the first star basketball player to face a swarming defense.
Take Jokic. He’s being defended by the four-time defensive player of the year (Rudy Gobert), or an athletic 7-footer with long arms (Karl-Anthony Towns) and an athletic power forward (Naz Reid), as well as the top-rated defensive team in the NBA, and he has cracked the Wolves’ code.
Tuesday, he made 15 of 22 shots to finish with 40 points, 13 assists, seven rebounds, two steals and a block.
“I mean, you saw it,” Finch said. “MVP, best player in the world performance.”
