Former Los Angeles Lakers guard Darius Morris tragically dies at age 33

Darius Morris passed away in early May at the age of 33 in Los Angeles. At this juncture, the cause of his death is not known. We will take a look back at the life and athletic career of the former NBA player. Statistics are sourced from Basketball Reference.

Darius Morris was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2011 NBA Draft. It was a fitting pick, considering that Morris was born in Los Angeles on May 3, 1991.

Morris played parts of four NBA seasons from 2011-2015, with the first two coming in Los Angeles. His final two years were spent with the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers and Memphis Grizzlies.

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Darius Morris’ best game as a professional came as a 76er, when he scored 20 points in a road game against the New Orleans Pelicans on November 16, 2013.

He played his collegiate ball for the University of Michigan under head coach John Beilein. As a sophomore, Morris averaged 15 points per game. He also averaged nearly seven assists per night that season as a facilitator of the offense. Morris formed a solid duo with future NBA player Tim Hardaway Jr.

The Los Angeles Times wrote a piece about Morris in 2013, calling him a perennial underdog. An example of his desire to work his way to the top came through his college basketball recruitment decision. He could have played for Kentucky or Arizona, who were stronger than Michigan at the time. However, Morris wanted to be part of building a program back from the ground up.

When it became clear that Morris wasn’t going to have a guaranteed NBA role, he took his talents abroad. According to Seven News’ website, Morris played professionally until 2020 in France, China and Russia.

Spectrum SportsNet analyst Mike Bresnahan fondly remembered Morris’ days with the Lakers. He told Yahoo Sports, “Darius was an absolutely super nice guy, he always had a smile. What I appreciated was that when he made it to the NBA he decided he was going to enjoy every minute of it. He was going to have fun. Darius never forgot that part of it.”

It was revealed after Morris’ passing that rapper 'The Game' was his cousin. The musical talent wrote on social media, “My family took a blow with this one. Rest well lil cousin.”

Darius Morris’ death came three months after his father and brother were convicted of bank fraud. Dewayne Morris Sr. and Dewayne Morris Jr. were found guilty in February 2024, as Morris Jr. was also found guilty of witness tampering, according to the Los Angeles Times. Anthony Colombo, the pair’s attorney, told Yahoo that Darius had no connection or involvement with the case at all.

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