Ja Morant has taken the league by storm since day one. He wasn’t a highly-coveted player until his sophomore year at Murray State and was mostly overshadowed by Zion Williamson growing up but that hasn’t stopped him from grinding and working his heart off.
The former 2nd overall pick has put together an impressive rookie season and is the leading candidate for the Rookie of the Year award, after turning the Memphis Grizzlies into a playoff team against all odds.
So, his competitiveness, drive, and the way he plays the game has impressed some current and former legends of the game, including Isiah Thomas, who considers him the pioneer of the new era of NBA point guards:
“I think in Ja we are watching the next generation of the great point guards that have been coming through our league. You have that group of Stephen Curry, Kyrie Irving, Damian Lillard, John Wall and so forth, but for the younger generation of point guards, I think Ja – who is projected to win the 2019-20 Rookie of the Year award – is going to be leading that evolution of great point guard play,” Thomas told Sky Sports.
Morant is an electrifying and explosive player. He’ll drive through the lane and catch bodies regardless of who’s guarding him and isn’t afraid to take a big shot when his team needs him.
However, he’s not just a scorer like most modern-day point guards. He’s a willing playmaker that loves to get everybody involved and will do whatever it takes to lead his team to a victory, even if that means giving up shots.
Thus far, Morant has averaged 17.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, 6.9 assists, and 0.9 steals per game on 49/36/77 from the floor with a PER of 18.0 and once the game starts slowing down for him, he’ll be a perennial All-Star, no doubt.
