Morant is a beast in more ways than one.
Even though the Memphis Grizzlies have struggled in the NBA bubble, rookie Ja Morant has been playing like a seasoned pro. If that wasn’t impressive enough, Morant revealed that he has been playing with a broken thumb on his shooting hand after the Grizzlies lost the Western Conference play-in game against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Morant told reporters in the post-game press conference that he fractured his thumb in the Grizzlies’ game against the Toronto Raptors. That means he has played the last four games with the injury, and he hasn’t shown a single sign of slowing down.
Ja Morant says he played last 4 games with fractured thumb. https://t.co/PyBvRCFHy8 pic.twitter.com/qR4MtfwNuo
— theScore (@theScore) August 15, 2020
In the play-in game against the Blazers, Morant had a career-high 35 points and added eight assists despite his thumb. He’s also been a star over the other games since the fracture occurred. He had a double-double against the Boston Celtics with 26 points and 12 assists, and posted the second triple-double of his NBA career against the Milwaukee Bucks. If he was hurting, no one could tell.
Morant, the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NBA draft, has been dominant for the Grizzlies all season despite his relative inexperience. He leads the team with 17.8 points per game and 7.3 assists per game. Even though the Grizzlies won’t be apart of the 2020 playoffs, Morant is still the favorite to win Rookie of the Year.
Since Ja Morant said he fractured his thumb against Toronto
26 pts, 13 assists vs Celtics
Triple double w/career high 13 rebs vs. the Bucks
Career-high 35 points, 8 assists today vs. Portland.Like Mike Breen said today “this kid is special.” https://t.co/iQNAqnP4gL
— Evan Barnes〽️ (@evan_b) August 15, 2020
The Grizzlies don’t have enough pieces around the rookie right now to be a legitimate team, and Morant was understandably disappointed to miss out on the postseason, but he clearly has an insane amount of potential. Despite an injury and a mediocre supporting cast, the rookie was able to thrive this year, and the sky’s the limit for him.