Ja Morant hasn’t skipped a beat since his return to the Memphis Grizzlies lineup a week ago. The city of Memphis couldn’t be happier. Without Morant in, the Grizzlies’ holes were glaring. In his absence, Desmond Bane tried valiantly to hold down the fort, but the offense was abysmal without his backcourt mate, With Morant back in the fold, Bane continued his All-Star push, but with more help.
The Morant-less Grizzlies flirted with the worst record in the Western Conference for the first third of the season. Since he was activated, Memphis is 4-0, and on Tuesday, Morant was named the Western Conference Player of the Week. It’s a small sample size, but wins over the Pacers, Hawks and Pelicans, twice, exemplify the impact his dribble and drive game has on Memphis’ win total. He even ended their most recent win over New Orleans on the receiving end of an alley-oop as a reminder of the extra turbo button he possesses.
You can tell opposing teams are wary by the way they react to Morant. Defenses retreat quicker than Boyz in the Hood’s Ricky Baker when Morant handles the rock in the halfcourt. Yet, even when they know how he’s going to score, the angle he’s diving to the room from still vexes defenses and he still has the hesi, lightning-quick crossover and finishing ability to vanquish defenders in the lane. If too many eyes get glued to Morant, he’ll slash defenses by whipping passes to baseline cutters.
In the span of a week, Morant put Tyrese Haliburton in his place, placed Trae Young in a blender and then dispatched the Pelicans twice. Morant’s contributions of nearly 30 points and nine assists per contest has been more than enough of a boost to the NBA’s worst offense in his absence. Memphis’ offense has never been overly dynamic, but in the last week, Morant’s presence has improved Memphis’ output by 10 points per 100 possessions, which has been more than enough for a defense that’s been second-best in the league since the season began. Memphis’ four wins with Morant nearly equals their win total through the first two months of the season.
It wouldn’t be a Morant exhibition though without showcasing his affinity for glocks. This time, it was a harmless finger gun celly after the aforementioned game-sealing alley-oop finish that lit the web up. Even under the strictest interpretations of the league bylaws, finger pistols aren’t enough to earn a reprimand by the league, even if they do make the NBA and Grizzlies brass nervous.
There was brief concern over the mounted bazooka he imitated, but to the relief of everyone involved, that was merely part of a dance. If anything has changed, it’s that he’s no longer hitting the Griddy.
Morant’s pantomiming a gun is the most controversial gesture since Gilbert Arenas mocked his own locker room gun showdown with Javaris Crittenton by doing finger guns during pregame introductions and earned David Stern’s wrath. For now, Morant is staying away from actual firearms and no members of his crew were accused of threatening the lives of Pacers personnel this time, which is progress, but in the court of public opinion, he’ll always be under strict scrutiny.
Fresh off his 25-game absence, Morant couldn’t help but take a jab at the league, and sportswriters can’t help opining on him when he sucks us back in. It’s not enough to get him placed in stasis by the league again, but it’s not a great sign that he hasn’t learned to stop giving the league a middle finger. Anyone concerned about this isn’t just clutching pearls. He’s given the league the okey doke after appearing to learn his lesson before metaphorically shooting himself in the foot.
Morant’s gunplay on social media and in his personal life are why Memphis is in this position. Sometimes you wonder if he cares as much about going viral as as he does about winning games. That’s not a knock on his competitive spirit. He clearly cares deeply about being Twitter famous, too.
Unfortunately, it’s distracted from his virtuoso abilities. For an athlete with so many opportunities available to him, you’d hope he find something else to celebrate besides an element of his personal life that he’s still in court testifying about.This should have been a few hundred words about Morant’s ethereal athleticism or the gigawatts of energy he’s provided to the city of Memphis.
Ironically, when he’s on the floor, it’s his precision shooting that needs the most work. Outside the paint, Morant’s stroke is still a major work in progress. In a league abound with flamethrowing shooters, Morant is the preeminent attacking point guard with a nearsighted jumper. Developing an outside game is integral to Morant elevating from small-market icon to serious MVP candidate, as is playing more than 67 games a season. Right now, he’s not on track to do either.
In the meantime, Memphis is just giddy about having their franchise player back in their crepuscular navy and white Grizz uniforms. Eventually, the Grizzlies will have to find that extra gear, whether it’s through trades, free agency or Morant making a leap by becoming a consistent floor spacing lead guard, but for 2024, they’ll settle for the status quo he’s set and tolerate him pushing the needle. For better or worse, this is the Ja Morant the league is going to get.
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