Getty Image / Justin Ford
Memphis Grizzlies superstar guard Ja Morant has had quite the last few months. The prodigious talent has continued to excel on the court, but has been running into trouble off of it.
The Murray State product had another fantastic season in his fourth NBA campaign. He averaged 26 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds while helping the Grizzlies to the number two seed heading into the Western Conference Playoffs.
But, off-the-court issues overshadowed all the success Ja Morant had this year. Before the season started, Morant was accused of assaulting a 17-year-old after an altercation. But, police in Shelby County, Tennessee, said that there was not enough evidence in the case for charges. There is a lawsuit pending in the case. There was also an incident involving the Indiana Pacers, where those close to the guard were alleged to have confronted members of the Pacers, with violence just narrowly being avoided. But, the biggest controversy arose in March, when Ja Morant used Instagram Live to broadcast himself brandishing a handgun in a strip club in Denver. That resulted in what amounted to be an eight-game suspension from the NBA.
But, he was back in plenty of time for the playoffs. It didn’t last long, though, as he left Memphis’s game one loss to the Los Angeles Lakers with a hand injury.
Ja Morant exits the game with a hand injury. Looks pretty severe pic.twitter.com/zov2gOLcqs
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) April 16, 2023
X-rays were negative, thankfully.
X-rays on Ja Morant were negative, according to Taylor Jenkins.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 16, 2023
But, Ja Morant is not out of the woods yet, as he is struggling with the injury after the game.
Ja Morant says his status for Game 2 is “in jeopardy.” He was downtrodden and not even able to use his right hand to undo a balled-up pair of socks. “Feels like it’s one thing after another.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 16, 2023
And, he spoke out about it after the game.
Ja Morant: “[It is] tough, man, especially with everything I've been through pretty much this season. My main focus was to be out there for my guys. It’s another incident where that's pretty much in jeopardy.”
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) April 16, 2023
The Memphis Grizzlies are going to need him, as they already trail 1-0 to the Lakers in what was already expected to be a close series. If they lose game two and go to Los Angeles down 2-0, they will be in serious trouble.
Game two is on Wednesday at 7:30PM.