Sports’ pick of the week

Arrick Wilson, Sports Editor

In this week’s pick, we are going to the NBA. The game to watch is the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies in Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena on Friday, Jan. 20.

Two players who highlight this matchup are Grizzlies guard Ja Morant and Lakers forward LeBron James. 

My pick is the Grizzlies for this matchup against the Lakers. Morant will be too much for the Lakers, scoring and creating points for the Grizzlies. Along with Morant leading the team to a win, center Steven Adams and guard Desmond Bane will help the Grizzlies gain the win. 

Morant is currently averaging 27.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists; James is averaging 29.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists, according to ESPN. 

James is on pace to break the NBA all-time points record set by NBA Hall of Famer, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, according to NBA.

This will be the first time of the season that these two teams will go against each other. With the Grizzlies sitting atop the Western Conference and the Lakers sitting low, this may be a lopsided matchup. 

The Lakers have a chance to win, but their efforts won’t be enough to stop the Grizzlies. The only way I see the Lakers winning is if James scores a 30-piece nugget or above — a 30-point game, not to be confused with chicken nuggets at your local fast-food joint. 

The Lakers are not good, and they have slim chances of going to the playoffs. Their saving grace is a 38-year-old veteran in James. While James is arguably the greatest of all time, trust me, the Lakers will not win this game. 

From someone who is a huge fan of James, it pains me to say that the Lakers will not come out with the win.