AUBURN, ALABAMA – DECEMBER 22: Ja Morant #12 of the Murray State Racers attacks the basket against Austin Wiley #50 of the Auburn Tigers at Auburn Arena on December 22, 2018 in Auburn, Alabama. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Projected top-five NBA draft pick Ja Morant smashed down the dunk of the year this week against the University of Texas-Martin.
Where were you when Ja Morant broke the sound barrier?
As the sophomore continues to extend his lead on the rest of the point guards in the 2019 NBA Draft class, Morant gave us a highlight Thursday night that rivaled presumed anything presumed No. 1 pick Zion Williamson has done.
Not only did Morant put up 26 points and 18 assists to lead the Murray State Racers to a 98-77 victory, but he enshrined a poor sap from UT-Martin in his highlight reel by leapfrogging over the big man for a sweet slam.
This is the dunk of the year. This is the dunk of every year. This is an Olympic achievement. Morant is the latest in a line of uber-athletic point guard prospects in the mold of John Wall, Derrick Rose or De’Aaron Fox, but none of those players ever did anything like this. No one ever did anything like this.
After electric performances by Morant against Alabama and Auburn earlier in the season, the sophomore guard propelled himself to the top of the draft. He is now firmly in the mix with Duke’s freshman standouts to be a top-five pick this June.
Murray State is 12-2 on the year after Thursday’s blowout over UT-Martin, meaning we very well could see the Racers in the NCAA tournament this spring. If Morant is hanging this type of nastiness on these sorry fools in Ohio Valley Conference play, we can only dream about what he will do on national television during March Madness.
At least now we know what clip will be playing when Morant walks onstage to take the hat featuring his new team’s logo early this summer as a high lottery pick.