Ja Morant
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Ja Morant (born August 10, 1999, Dalzell, South Carolina, U.S.) is an American basketball player who is one of the NBA’s leading point guards, known for his dynamic and acrobatic plays. Morant was drafted by the Memphis Grizzlies with the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, and he was named Rookie of the Year in 2020. He faced controversy in 2023 when he received two suspensions for brandishing guns on social media.
Early life and college
He was born Temetrius Jamel Morant but later became known as “Ja” (pronounced “Jah”). His father, Tee Morant, played college basketball, and his mother, Jamie Morant, was a college softball player. Tee Morant considered playing overseas but gave up those plans when Jamie Morant became pregnant. When Ja Morant was a toddler, he began playing basketball, and his father developed training programs for him. As a middle schooler, Morant was relatively undersized and lacked elite-level speed and quickness. So Tee Morant drilled his son on footwork, jumping, and other skills, which, along with a growth spurt—Ja Morant eventually reached a height of 6 feet 2 inches (1.88 meters)—helped elevate his game. It also instilled in him a strong work ethic.
A triple-double is when a player registers double figures in any three statistical categories, most often points, rebounds, and assists.
However, by his senior year in 2016 Morant had attracted little interest from colleges. Then an assistant coach for Murray State University (MSU), who was scouting another player, happened to see Morant in a side gym. He was impressed by what he saw, and MSU began aggressively recruiting Morant. Murray State’s head coach, Matt McMahon, considered him “a basketball genius,” possessing great athleticism and intelligence. Morant ultimately decided to play for MSU.
Morant averaged 12.7 points and 6.3 assists per game in his freshman year (2017–18), then blossomed into one of the best players in the nation in his sophomore year. That 2018–19 season, he averaged 24.5 points and 10 assists per game, the first men’s player to average at least 20 points and 10 assists since the NCAA started keeping records of assists in 1983–84. Morant’s performance helped Murray State earn a berth in the NCAA tournament. In the first round, Morant gained national attention when he scored a rare triple-double (17 points, 16 assists, and 11 rebounds) as Murray State upset Marquette University, 83–64. However, MSU was defeated by Florida State University in the next game, 90–62. Shortly thereafter, Morant announced that he was leaving school to enter the 2019 NBA draft.
NBA
With his court vision, agility, and leaping ability, Morant was compared to such stars as Russell Westbrook, Allen Iverson, and Chris Paul. Morant, who referred to himself as “Point God,” said he was a “pass-first” point guard. Talking to reporters at the NBA combine in Chicago, he said, “I really don’t try to focus on scoring. I’d rather take an assist over a bucket any day, but I really feel like I can score the basketball.” The Grizzlies selected Morant with the number two overall pick, just after the New Orleans Pelicans took Zion Williamson.
In his first season in the NBA, 2019–20, Morant averaged 17.8 points and 7.3 assists per game and was a near-unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year, winning 99 of 100 first-place votes. He helped lead Memphis, which had finished 12th in the Western Conference the previous season, to a play-in game for the postseason. However, the team lost to the Portland Trail Blazers.
In his second season, Morant posted similar stats, and Memphis qualified for the playoffs but was defeated by the Utah Jazz in the first round. Morant then had a breakout season in 2021–22, averaging 27.4 points per game as the Grizzlies finished second in the Western Conference with a record of 56–26. In the playoffs, the team advanced to the conference semifinals, where Memphis lost to the Golden State Warriors. Morant won the Most Improved Player Award and finished seventh in the MVP vote. His acrobatic plays, soaring dunks, and uncanny ability to improvise on the fly made him one of the league’s most entertaining players.
Morant’s fourth season (2022–23) was marred by an eight-game suspension, which the NBA levied in March 2023, after he live streamed a video in which he displayed a gun while at a nightclub. He later apologized and received counseling for handling stress. On the court, Morant had another strong season, averaging 26.2 points and 8.1 assists per game. The Grizzlies made the playoffs but lost in the first round.
Several months later, in June 2023, Morant was suspended again—this time for 25 games—after a live stream video showed him flashing a gun from the passenger seat of a car. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said “that engaging in reckless and irresponsible behavior with guns will not be tolerated.” Morant issued a statement through his representatives apologizing to the NBA, his team, Memphis, and to kids for failing them as a role model. Morant missed some two months of the 2023–24 season. However, after returning in December 2023, he played in only nine games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. Without their star point guard, the Grizzlies finished the season with a record of 27–55.