Marcus Morris Sr.

Morris was selected by the Houston Rockets with the 14th overall pick in the 2011 NBA draft, five minutes after his brother Markieff was taken with the 13th pick by the Phoenix Suns. He was assigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers of the NBA Development League on January 2, 2012.[8] In his first game in the D-League on January 6, 2012, Morris recorded 33 points and 16 rebounds in a narrow 105–103 loss to the Dakota Wizards.[9] Morris returned to the Rockets on January 16, was reassigned to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers on February 3, and returned to the Rockets again on February 20.[10]

After an injury to Patrick Patterson, Rockets head coach Kevin McHale named Morris the opening day starter at power forward for the 2012–13 season. When told he would be starting, Morris thought McHale was kidding, since he rarely played his rookie season and was hurt during the preseason.[11] During the course of the season, Morris was the backup power forward to Patterson, and started 17 games while Patterson was injured. His three-point shot was much improved from his rookie season, more than tripling the percentage from 12% to 38%.

On February 21, 2013, Morris was traded to the Phoenix Suns, reuniting him with his twin brother.[12][13] A day later, he played his first game with his brother in the last 6 minutes of a loss to the Boston Celtics, as he recorded 7 points, 2 steals, and a rebound, despite having no formal training from the Suns before entering the game. This marked the second time that twin brothers played for the same NBA team; Dick and Tom Van Arsdale also played together for the Suns during the 1976–77 season. On March 1, 2013, Morris scored 16 points to help the Suns defeat the Atlanta Hawks 92–87. He made four out of five three-point attempts. He went on to start alongside Markieff on March 10, 2013 against his former team, the Rockets, which made the Morris twins the first set of twin brothers to ever start for the same NBA team.[14]

On September 29, 2014, Morris signed a multi-year contract extension with the Suns.[15] In the Suns' 2014–15 season opener on October 29, 2014, Morris recorded 21 points in the 119–99 win over the Los Angeles Lakers.[16] During the Suns' January 7 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Morris received a technical foul and was caught on national TV berating head coach Jeff Hornacek about the situation.[17] It resulted in Morris not playing for the rest of the game.[18] His other antics during his final season with the Suns and afterwards, though, led to AZCentral.com labeling him one of Arizona's biggest sports villains.[19]

On February 6, 2015, Morris recorded his first career double-double with career highs of 34 points and 12 rebounds in a 100–93 win over the Utah Jazz.[20] His double-double off the bench marked him as just the second player after Brook Lopez in 2014–15 to record a 30-point, 10-rebound game off the bench. The last Suns player to do it was Danny Manning in 1997.[21] In a March 22 game against the Dallas Mavericks, the Morris twins had double-doubles in the same game for the first time in their professional careers.[22]

Morris battling for the ball with his brother Markieff Morris of the Washington Wizards.

On July 9, 2015, Morris was traded to the Detroit Pistons, along with Reggie Bullock and Danny Granger, in exchange for a 2020 second-round draft pick.[23] He made his debut for the Pistons on October 27, 2015, in the team's season opener against the Atlanta Hawks. In 37 minutes of action as a starter, he recorded 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 106–94 win.[24] On April 1, 2016, he scored a season-high 31 points in a 98–89 loss to the Dallas Mavericks.[25] The Pistons finished the regular season as the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference with a 44–38 record, earning a playoff berth for the first time since 2009. In their first-round series against the top-seeded, eventual champion Cleveland Cavaliers, the Pistons were swept 4–0.

On February 3, 2017, Morris scored a career-high 36 points in a 116–108 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.[26] On February 28, Morris set a new career high with 37 points in a 120–113 overtime win over the Portland Trail Blazers.[27]

On July 7, 2017, Morris was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Avery Bradley and a 2019 second-round draft pick.[28] On March 31, 2018, he scored 25 points in a 110–99 win over the Toronto Raptors. It was his fourth straight game with at least 20 points, setting a career high.[29]

On July 16, 2019, Morris signed with the New York Knicks.[30] On January 5, 2020, Morris scored a career-high 38 points and tied his career high for field goals made (13) in a 135–132 loss against the Los Angeles Clippers.[31]

The Knicks traded Morris to the Los Angeles Clippers in a three team trade with the Washington Wizards on February 6, 2020, sending Maurice Harkless to New York and Jerome Robinson to Washington; the Clippers also acquired Isaiah Thomas from the Wizards in the trade.[32]

Morris debuted for the Clippers on February 9, 2020, scoring 10 points in a 133–92 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs, Morris was ejected during game 6 after he committed a flagrant foul on Luka Dončić and was fined $35,000, but was never suspended.[33] In the 2020 Western Conference Semifinals, Morris notably had an altercation with Paul Millsap as the Clippers fell in seven games after the Nuggets came back from a 3–1 series deficit. Morris averaged 11.8 points and 4.8 rebounds during the playoffs.

On November 25, 2020, Morris re-signed with the Clippers with a 4-year, $64 million contract.[34]