Darius Morris

Darius Morris
Darius Morris
Born	3 January 1991 (age 35); Carson, California, U.S.
Died	2 May 2024 (aged 33)
Occupation	Professional basketball player
Years active	2011–2024
Known for	NBA point guard for Los Angeles Lakers, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies; NBA D-League player; collegiate basketball at Michigan

Darius Aaron Morris (January 3, 1991 – May 2, 2024) was a professional basketball athlete from the United States. Chosen as the 41st pick in the 2011 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Lakers, he played the position of point guard across several NBA franchises such as the Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Memphis Grizzlies. In addition to his NBA career, Morris competed in the NBA D-League with teams like the Los Angeles D-Fenders and Rio Grande Valley Vipers, and also played professionally overseas in China, Russia, and France.

During his collegiate career at Michigan, Morris spent two seasons and led the Big Ten Conference in assists during the 2010–11 campaign, setting a then-school record for assists in a single season. His efforts earned him third-team All-Big Ten recognition as a sophomore, alongside a second-team All-District nod from the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

Prior to college, Morris guided Windward School to a California state championship in 2009 and was honored with the CIF Division 5A State John Wooden High School Player of the Year Award.

Early life

Raised in Carson, California, Morris is the son of Dewayne Sr. and Robin Morris and attended Windward School during his high school years. As a freshman, he confidently declared his intention to dunk and lead Windward to a state title before graduating.

High school career

Morris took part in various elite basketball camps organized by notable figures such as LeBron James, Steve Nash, the National Basketball Players Association, and Nike. He earned first-team All-State honors twice in California and was named MVP in multiple tournaments. His participation extended to several all-star events, including the Academic All-American Classic. His father was employed by the United States Postal Service in Venice.

In his senior year, Morris propelled Windward High to capture the California Division V state championship by scoring 25 points along with eight rebounds and four assists in the final game. He received MVP accolades for the Olympic League, was recognized as CIF Division 5A Southern Section Player of the Year, and also claimed CIF Division 5A State Player of the Year honors. Additionally, he was awarded the prestigious John Wooden High School Player of the Year Award, an honor previously bestowed upon players like Jrue Holiday. Nationally, Morris was ranked among the top high school point guards: 11th by ESPN, 15th by Rivals.com, and 20th by Scout.com. Furthermore, Rivals and ESPN placed him at 77th and 100th respectively among all high school basketball players.

College career

As a freshman with Michigan's 2009–10 squad, Morris averaged 4.4 points and 2.6 assists over approximately 24.3 minutes per game. On November 14, he started for the #15 ranked Wolverines, contributing 11 points and five assists. His season-high came on January 10, 2010, when he dished out seven assists against Northwestern.

On December 23, 2010, Morris was one of three Michigan players who each made four three-pointers during a game where the team set a school record with sixteen made shots from beyond the arc. He also recorded twelve assists that night to secure a double-double. The Big Ten Conference named him player of the week on December 27. Despite some local surprise over his exclusion from the initial 67-man watchlist for the 2011 Bob Cousy Award, Morris earned co-player of the week honors again on January 31, 2011, after becoming Michigan’s third-ever player to achieve a triple-double.

On February 1, 2011, The Wall Street Journal identified him as the most impactful player on his team among major conference athletes, noting that his combined assists and field goals accounted for more than half of Michigan’s scoring output.

During the 2011 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, Morris set a new single-season assist record at Michigan with 235 assists across 35 games, surpassing marks previously held by Gary Grant and Rumeal Robinson. His average of 6.71 assists per contest led all players in the Big Ten Conference. Additionally, he topped his team in both points and steals per game for that season.

After concluding the 2010–11 Big Ten Conference men's basketball season, Morris received third-team All-Big Ten distinctions from coaches and media alike and was selected for the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division I District 7 All-District second team—an honor comparable to second-team All-Big Ten recognition by NABC standards.

Following this successful season, Morris sought advice from the NBA's undergraduate advisory committee regarding his draft outlook. On May 4, he declared his intention to enter the June 23, 2011 NBA draft, thereby foregoing remaining college eligibility.

2011–12 season

ESPN analyst Chad Ford identified Morris as the most prominent true point guard available in the draft. The Los Angeles Lakers, his hometown team, selected him with the 41st overall pick in the second round of the 2011 NBA draft. Prior to the start of the 2011–12 NBA season, Morris appeared alongside teammates Derek Fisher, Steve Blake, and Matt Barnes on the December 22 finale of The X Factor during a performance by 50 Cent. Morris made his Lakers debut on January 11 against Utah, playing 13 minutes and contributing four points, two assists, and one rebound in an overtime victory that marked the Lakers' first road win of that season.

Morris gained more minutes when Steve Blake was sidelined due to a costrochaondral rib injury, maintaining a spot in the rotation for seven games before his role diminished. On March 7, 2012, he was assigned to the Los Angeles D-Fenders of the NBA Development League and scored 21 points in his debut on March 10. The Lakers recalled him on March 16. In the regular season finale on April 26 versus Sacramento, Morris recorded nine points and five assists.

2012–13 season

On July 2, 2012, Morris re-signed with the Lakers and led the team in both scoring and assists during the July Las Vegas NBA Summer League. On November 9, while filling in for an injured Steve Blake during Steve Nash’s absence, he posted 10 points along with career-best figures of five rebounds, five assists, and one steal in a victory over Golden State. With both Blake and Nash sidelined, Morris earned his first career start on November 13 against San Antonio. He achieved personal bests of 31 minutes played and six assists on November 16 in a game against Phoenix.

Chris Duhon took over as starter on December 4. Morris reached a new scoring high with 15 points against Philadelphia on December 16 and received commendation from Kobe Bryant for his defensive efforts shortly thereafter. When Nash returned to action on December 22, coach Mike D'Antoni adjusted the lineup by starting Morris instead of Metta World Peace, deploying players out of their usual positions primarily to counter opponents’ key perimeter scorers. World Peace resumed his starting role on January 4; by late January, Jodie Meeks had replaced Morris in the rotation as Blake also made his return.

Morris was sent back to the Los Angeles D-Fenders on March 7, where he tallied 21 points, six rebounds, and two assists on March 9 before being recalled later that day. He was reassigned to the D-Fenders on April 3 but recalled again on April 4. During the April 26 playoff game against San Antonio—when Bryant, Nash, Blake, and Meeks were all unavailable—Morris delivered an impressive performance with 24 points and six assists as a starter.

On June 28, the Lakers opted not to extend Morris a $1.2 million qualifying offer necessary to maintain restricted free agent rights. Although there was interest in re-signing him at a reduced salary and having him represent the team in summer league play, Morris became an unrestricted free agent once the deadline passed.

2013–14 season

On September 27, 2013, Morris inked a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers. He was anticipated to vie with Tony Wroten for the role of backup point guard behind Michael Carter-Williams. When Carter-Williams was sidelined, Wroten took over as starter. On November 16, Morris achieved a personal best by scoring 20 points during a defeat to the New Orleans Pelicans. However, just four days later, he was released as part of roster adjustments that included acquiring Elliot Williams and Lorenzo Brown.

In December, Morris participated in workouts with the Memphis Grizzlies and was also considered by the Los Angeles Lakers as a potential injury replacement, though the Lakers ultimately signed Kendall Marshall instead.

On January 6, 2014, Morris signed a 10-day contract with the Los Angeles Clippers following an injury to Chris Paul. He made his debut that same day, registering his initial point for the Clippers. Morris secured a second 10-day contract on January 16; however, after its expiration on January 26, the Clippers chose not to extend his stay.

On February 3, Morris agreed to another 10-day contract with the Memphis Grizzlies, who were dealing with depleted point guard options due to injuries and trades.

By March 17, Morris had joined the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in the NBA D-League. He recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 assists on March 20 and followed up with a 31-point performance the next day. On April 12, during an overtime playoff loss to the Iowa Energy, he posted an impressive 51 points along with 18 assists—setting a new D-League playoff record for assists and achieving the second-highest point total in playoff history.

2014–15 season

During July 2014, Morris competed with the San Antonio Spurs in the 2014 NBA Summer League. On September 24, he signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, but was waived by October 25. Later, on December 11, 2014, after executing a two-for-one trade to open roster space, the Brooklyn Nets signed Morris. He made his Nets debut the following day, contributing two points and one assist in an 88–70 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets waived him on June 29, 2015.

2015–16 and 2016–17 seasons

Morris returned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on March 29, 2016. In his debut that evening off the bench, he logged nine points, three rebounds, four assists, and two steals across 24 minutes during a commanding 118–97 win over Oklahoma City Blue. Throughout the 2016–17 season, he led the Vipers in both scoring and assists during regular play—averaging 20.0 points and 6.4 assists per game—and continued to top team stats in playoffs with averages of 23.3 points and 7.9 assists per game.

2017–18 season

On January 5, 2018, Morris was signed on a conditional basis by Guangdong Southern Tigers of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA) as a replacement for Edwin Jackson. He opted not to renew his contract after February 21 when Donald Sloan was brought in as his successor. On March 21, Morris returned to sign again with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.

2018–19 season

Morris joined the New Orleans Pelicans for training camp starting September 4, 2018; however, he was waived by October 12. Subsequently, he became part of the Santa Cruz Warriors roster in the G League. On November 10, he achieved a triple-double by posting 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists against Iowa Energy—his second triple-double performance in G League competition.

2019–20 season

On August 20, 2019, he inked a contract with BC Enisey, competing in the VTB United League. Subsequently, on January 12, 2020, he transferred to BCM Gravelines-Dunkerque in France's top-tier league, the LNB Pro A. He participated in seven matches before the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France.

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 19 || 0 || 8.9 || .429 || .444 || .667 || .8 || 1.1 || .1 || .0 || 2.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 48 || 17 || 14.2 || .388 || .364 || .649 || 1.2 || 1.6 || .4 || .0 || 4.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 12 || 0 || 16.1 || .433 || .417 || .714 || 1.1 || 2.6 || .7 || .0 || 6.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Clippers | 10 || 0 || 5.4 || .308 || .000 || .500 || .5 || .5 || .2 || .0 || .9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Memphis | 5 || 0 || 13.2 || .375 || .286 || .333 || 1.6 || 1.6 || .6 || .0 || 3.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Brooklyn | 38 || 0 || 7.9 || .340 || .212 || .444 || .7 || 1.3 || .2 || .0 || 2.2 |- |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 132 || 17 || 11.1 || .384 || .322 || .630 || 1.0 || 1.4 || .3 || .0 || 3.3 |- class=sortbottom !scope=row colspan=13 | Sources:

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 4 || 0 || 2.0 || 1.000|| 1.000|| .750|| .0|| .8|| .0|| .0|| 2.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2013 | style="text-align:left;"| L.A. Lakers | 4|| 2|| 26.3|| .457|| .333|| .778|| 1.3|| 3.0|| .5|| .0|| 10.5 |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2015 | style="text-align:left;" | Brooklyn | 1||0||5.0||.000||.000||.000||.0||.0||.0||.0||.0 |- |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 9||2||13.1||.487||.400||.769||.6||1.7||.2||.0||5.8 |- class=sortbottom !scope=row colspan=13 | Sources:

Regular season

|- | align="left"| 2011-12 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 1 || 0 || 28.0 || .438 || .333 || .857 || 1.0 || 4.0 || 1.0 || .0 || 21.0 |- | align="left" | 2012–13 | align="left" | Los Angeles | 2 || 2 || 35.0 || .355 || .182 || .545 || 6.0 || 5.5 || 1.0 || .0 || 15.0 |- | align="left" | 2013–14 | align="left" | Rio Grande | 9 || 7 || 29.3 || .508 || .179 || .641 || 4.3 || 6.7 || .8 || .0 || 17.1 |- | align="left" | 2015–16 | align="left" | Rio Grande | 3|| 0|| 28.3|| .429|| .538|| .571||4.3||4.3|| 1.7|| .0||13.7 |- | align="left" | 2016–17 | align="left" | Rio Grande | 47|| 39||33.7|| .447|| .330|| .824||4.3||6.4||1.2|| .0||20.0 |- | align="left" | 2017–18 | align="left" | Rio Grande | 3||2||26.3|| .538|| .500|| .818||4.7||7.7|| .3|| .0||19.0 |- | align="left" | 2018–19 | align="left" | Santa Cruz |34||25||29.4|| .404|| .295|| .684||3.4||6.2|| .7||.2||15.2 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career |99||75||31.4|| .438|| .314|| .763||4.0||6.3||1.0||.1||17.8 |- class=sortbottom !scope=row colspan=13 | Source:

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;" | 2014 | style="text-align:left;" | Rio Grande |6||6||38.5||| .551||| .474||| .762||| 4.8||| 10.2|||1.0||| .2||| 30.0 |- |- align="left" | 2016 |- align="left" | Rio Grande |- align="left" |3 |- align="left" |0 |- align="left" |27 |- align="left" |'.227' |- align="left" |'.250' |- align="left" |- |- align="left" |'2' |- align="left" |'2.'7' |- align="left" |'.7' |- align="left" |'.0' |- align="left" |'4' |- |- align="left" |2016–17 NBA Development League season#Playoffs |- align="left" |Rio Grande |- align="left" |9 |- align="left" |9 |- align="left" |41..3 |- align="left" |'.458' |- align="left" |'.296' |- align="left" |'.675' |- align="left" |4..4 |- align="left" |7..9 |- align="left" |'.9 ' |- align="left" |'.1' |- align="left" |23..3 |- |-align= " left ">|2017–18 NBA G League season#Playoffs |-align= " left ">|Rio Grande |-align= " left ">|2 |-align= " left ">|2 |-align= " left ">|32 |-align= " left ">|'.400 ' |-align= " left ">|'.200' |-align= " left ">|'.750' |-align= " left ">|4..5 |-align= " left ">|6..0 |-align= " left ">|1..0 |-align= " left ">|'.0' |-align= " left ">|12..5 |- |-align= " left ">|2018–19 NBA G League season#Playoffs |-align= " left "|Santa Cruz Warriors |-align= " left "|2 |-align= " left "|2 |-align= " left "|29 |-align= " left "|'.444' |-align= " left "|'.273' |-align= " left "|'.667' |-align= " left "|2..0 |-align= " left "|6..0 |-align= " left "|'.5' |-align= " left "|'.0' |-align= " left "|15..5 | - style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 22 || 19 || 36..6 || '.469' || '.333' || '.717' || 4..0 || 7..5 || 1..3 || '.1' || 20..8 | - class=sortbottom !scope=row colspan=13 | Source:

College

*	Led NCAA Division I

Template:NBA player statistics start |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2009–10 | style="text-align:left;"| Michigan | 32 || 19 || 24.3 || .406 || .179 || .630 || 1.8 || 2.6 || .6 || .2 || 4.4 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010–11 | style="text-align:left;"| Michigan | 35 || 34 || 34.8 || .489 || .250 || .715 || 4.0 || style="background:#CFECEC;"|6.7* || 1.0 || .0 || 15.0 |- |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 67 || 53 || 29.8 || .469 || .223 || .695 || 2.9 || 4.8 || .8 || .1 || 9.9 |- class=sortbottom !scope=row colspan=13 | Sources:

Death

Morris passed away in Los Angeles on May 2, 2024, at the age of 33. The official cause of death was coronary artery disease, with drug and alcohol consumption identified as contributing elements. He was laid to rest at Inglewood Park Cemetery.

External links