Ja Morant Hits First NBA Game-Winner In Front Of His Dad Just Two Hours From His Hometown

Getty Image / Don Juan Moore

Any time a player hits a game-winner it’s a special moment. Whether it’s the first of their career or 20th, the thrill both on the court and among fans when someone sinks the game-winning shot is a memorable moment.

Ja Morant’s first NBA game-winner on Wednesday night was a little extra special though.

The Grizzlies put the ball in the rookie’s hands as time winded down running, basically, an isolation play to let him do his thing. With around seven seconds left Morant drove to the basket and among three Hornets at the rim he somehow got his left-handed finish to drop with 0.7 seconds left on the clock.

It was a big-time finish for this year’s second-overall pick giving the Grizzlies their first winning streak of the year.

The special moment came right after the final buzzer as Morant got to share the celebrations with his dad.

Morant was a standout at Murray State in Kentucky but grew up in Sumter, South Carolina making his first game-winner even that more special seeing as how Sumter is only about two hours from Charlotte.

It’s safe to say Morant had plenty of local fans and family in attendance on Wednesday night. Pulling off that sort of finish for your first game-winner in just your 10th career game, in that building with your pop in attendance? Yep, that’s pretty much a dream come true.

Morant is off to a fantastic start this season averaging 18.3 points and 5.8 assists per game in just 27.5 minutes of action per night. The Grizzlies are likely to lose more games than they win this year, but that doesn’t mean Morant won’t be in rookie of the year conversations come the end of the year if he keeps this sort of pace up.