After making the postseason for the first time last year, Ja Morant is ready to lead his Memphis Grizzlies to a deep playoff run, although this year’s playoff didn’t start the best way for them.
The young point guard is one of the most electrifying players in the league right now, but the challenge is bigger now that he led his squad to the 2nd seed in the Western Conference standings.
After his first three games against the Minnesota Timberwolves, everybody has praised Ja and the Grizzlies, who look inspired to win two more games and close out the series that started with a surprising loss for them. Shaquille O’Neal has stated before that he’s a big fan of Ja and earlier this week compared the player to three guards he played with during his career, saying that Morant had the ‘it factor’ that they all had.
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“I had the ability to play with three fabulous guards that had that ‘it factor,’” O’Neal explained, via Sports Casting. “My first came in was Penny Hardaway. From the first year, he was cold. He had it. Kobe Bryant had that attitude, like, ‘Listen, I’m the best player on the court. I don’t care who’s here.’ And then, when I went to Miami and played with D-Wade. [Morant] has the ‘it factor.’ He knows he’s the best guy on the court. He knows he’s a great player already.”
“Kudos to Taylor Jenkins for letting [Morant] do what he do,” Shaq continued. “A lot of times, you have a lot of coaches, ‘Don’t make that two-handed bounce pass. Don’t do this or that.’ But Taylor Jenkins just sits back and enjoys the show. When you have a guy that has that ‘it factor’ like that, you just have to, you know, let it ride. He’s a great player. I know I made this statement a couple of months ago, that he reminds me of Kobe. And he does cause Kobe had that ‘it factor’ when I met him at 17 years old. He knew that [he] was the man. He knew that one day, he was gonna be the greatest player ever. That’s what I think about when I think about this cat right here [Morant].”
Morant is currently averaging 23.6 points per game for the Grizzlies, who recovered their home-court advantage with their win in Game 3, where they returned from a 26-point deficit. The Grizzlies are a fun team to watch, they never give up and even though they suffered a surprising defeat in the first duel of the series, they bounced back and are ready to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series.
Shaq had big praise for the former No. 2 overall pick, comparing him to three of the best guards this league has seen. Morant isn’t shy of the spotlight, he enjoys every challenge and these good comments won’t put pressure on him, they will motivate him to be better.
