NBA’s latest breakout star walking on air in Memphis

Grizzlies guard Ja Morant had been lightning up the US basketball scene before Monday night’s milestone 52-point performance

Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies in action against the San Antonio Spurs at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee.

I’M not sure if it’s ever completely appropriate to let sport be a distraction from the crushing reality of war but I’d like to respectfully present the case of Ja Morant as one escape from the doom and gloom.

The 22-year-old Memphis Grizzlies point guard has been muscling his way into the top tier of NBA stars over the past couple of seasons but for people like me who don’t quite have the time to consume every quarter of action, every day of the week, his achievement this past
Monday unlocked the next level of Morant’s mainstream notoriety.

To score over 50 points in basketball is roughly equivalent to a double hat trick; it is rare enough to be beautiful. It will linger long in the archives and when you look at the players who have done it the most, you’re mostly seeing icons. There is a big drop-off from the game’s truest outlier, Wilt Chamberlain (118 times), to Michael Jordan in second who did it 31 times during a career that lasted over 1,200 games. Kobe Bryant famously did it at Madison Square Garden, as if opting for that game to be the night to haunt the Knicks forever. LeBron James and Steph Curry are in the top 10 and will more than likely move a couple notches up the rankings without ever troubling Jordan’s placing at two.

It is because of those who have done it before him that when Morant’s 52 blitzed San Antonio earlier this week, a sense emerged that he has truly launched a tangible stat line to match his swashbuckling displays.

As much as it is a sign of germinating greatness, it does bring into question the nature of the opposition and, yes, admittedly, the San Antonio Spurs won’t be troubling the playoffs when the post-season tips off in six weeks. But the Texas side did actually try to employ the key sacrificial tactic of double teaming their opponent in order to thwart Morant’s bid for glory. It didn’t work because Morant is otherworldly, both in terms of his physique and his scoring audacity.

It wasn’t just that he breached 50, however. The end result was garnished magically by his key characteristics, conveniently and coincidentally combining for a pair of standout moments that happened just before half-time on Monday.

For a home crowd that has become blissfully aware of the innovative ways that Morant gets them on their feet in adulation, they were wowed anew by a pair of relatively quick scores that will stand the test of time by the end of the season and possibly by the end of the decade.

There’s nothing new about the love we all have for the dunk in any of its forms. But of course seeing a couple dozen of them a night renders us spoiled and dulls our shock value as to how truly special it is for any athlete to be able to do it in the heat of battle.

Monday’s memorable Morant dunk delivered two extra special characteristics.

With two minutes left to the half and with third-placed Memphis only a score ahead of lowly San Antonio, Morant takes possession at the halfway line. He turns into a defender and he does a risky thing — he pushes the ball out in front of him as he evades the block.

It’s almost like a Gaelic football bounce where the ball lingers in the air a little too long in order to give the player in possession a little extra time to compose themselves.

But because it’s Morant, the other pair of defenders are not willing to over commit and the split second is enough to allow him gain full control and launch himself skyward, slamming down in spite of the seven foot Spurs centre Jakob Poeltl’s best attempts to create an obstacle.

He lands amidst three frozen solid Spurs players. Morant has been a proponent of the posterise (dunking violently over a defender) since he entered the league — it’s nothing new.

It’s a job hazard for big guys like Poeltl to be soul crushed by someone like Morant whose 6’3” frame is more than made up for by his leap.

That would have been more than enough for an entertaining evening but then a couple of minutes later, with the crowd and his team mates still thrilled and with the half-time buzzer on the verge of ringing out, Morant produced a moment of magic that doesn’t really have many precedents.

The aptly named Grizzlies player Steven Adams launches a long inbound. With just over a second of play left, there’s nothing to lose so the New Zealander might as well punt deep to Morant.

In one movement while pinned in at the corner, the South Carolinian jumps, catches and tosses just in time.

In that brief moment between the ball leaving his hands and swooshing cleanly through the net, the buzzer goes and the score is good.

If you have two minutes, google Ja Morant poster and buzzer beater.

Enjoy the scores but also note the way he trots casually away from that second play, back to half court, giddily self-satisfied and boyishly positioning himself beneath the arena’s big screen for a better angle of the replay of his own brilliance.

He smiles in anticipation and you have to imagine the entire NBA marketing department goes into overdrive.

It’s one thing for Ja to be superhuman, it’s quite another for young fans to be able to see him immediately become one of them.

There’s an innocence in the joy — we all want to watch him over and over again. And I urge you to do so too.

HE’S not just a highlight reel, though. Going into last night’s game at the Boston Celtics, Morant was averaging over 27 points each time he takes the court while helping out his team with just over six assists and just under six rebounds per game.

Having been missed by every single top ranked college coach when he was in high school, Morant made his way steadily through Murray State to become the second pick at the 2019 draft.

The headlines were occupied that year solely by Duke player Zion Williams who has so far mysteriously failed to deliver anything in the way of value while a professional player in New Orleans. A story for another day but it’s not exactly the first time a player like Morant has swooped in under the radar.

It can be his league now. As LeBron James nears the end of his career and as Steph Curry continues to dominate in a different way, a path is clearing for Morant to become the biggest star in the game. Given his style of play, it’s fairer to say he himself is clearing the path by his own actions.

And his team-mates around him are more than happy to trample over the debris behind him. Tellingly Morant gathered the rest of the Grizzlies around him to pose for team photos on Monday night as a way of collectively celebrating his personal prowess. It was a 52-point display which delivered another win, one which could help see Memphis into an advantageous top-two seeding by the time the playoffs begin next month.

Owners of the team will naturally be very happy to be in contention as we arrive at crunch time but what adds to the enjoyment of this entire subplot is that the Grizzlies play in the NBA’s smallest market. It should be a backwater and someone like Morant should be a sideshow at best.

It makes it all the more remarkable that he has elevated himself beyond the regular headlines. One key demographic for the NBA is its younger viewers and by that metric, Morant is now a key performer. His exploits on Monday delivered the most-watched video in the history of the NBA’s Instagram account, the league revealed on Wednesday. It reportedly picked up over 42 million views, part of more than 80 million views Morant inspired throughout the entire game, according to Sports Illustrated. And in terms of all-time views, he has moved into third-placed in the NBA, behind only Steph Curry and LeBron James which is remarkable for a player who plays in such a tiny market. Who can ever know where it goes from here? But the indicators are good. He promised his childhood friend that he would hand him his game-worn jersey after his first 50-point game and he did that courtside during the happy aftermath. Then he held his daughter in his arms and told the cameras about how she was his inspiration to keep going. I’m happy to hold on to any sign of hope these days.

@JohnWRiordan