Ahead of his game against Brooklyn on Wednesday, Ja Morant spoke about how his family helps to keep him humble.
In a chat with ESPN’s Malika Andrews, he revealed that his father is often his biggest critic, and still trash talks him regularly.
“Still, to this day, sometimes during the game he’s like ‘you still overrated, you still suck.’ If I can take it from my dad, nobody else opinion pretty much matters,” Morant said.
Ja Morant’s dad makes sure to keep him humble 😂
"Still to this day sometimes during the game he’s like ‘you still overrated, you still suck.’ If I can take it from my dad … nobody else opinion pretty much matters.” pic.twitter.com/A3CEeXYmeT
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 23, 2022
Morant, 22, is having the best season of his young career so far. Through 56 games, he’s averaging 27.6 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.7 rebounds per game on 49% shooting.
After making his first All-Star team in February, he has been considered one of the league’s best point guards, even leading Dwyane Wade to compare the youngster to himself.
“I think the cool thing for a guy like Ja Morant is he got the opportunity to watch Allen Iverson and Derrick Rose and someone like myself. These smaller guards who play a lot bigger than they are right,” said Wade. “I look at Ja. I look at it similar to me. We’re not known for our outside shot but lead the league in paint points right, putting the pressure on the rim at all times. We’ll put a body on you at any moment going to the basket and just using his athleticism in so many amazing ways. So I see a lot of similarities in my game as well to Ja. But I think he mixed a lot of us together and he’s taken it to even another level.”
The Grizzlies are 2nd in the West this season with a 49-23 record. Besides Phoenix, they have the best win percentage in the NBA at 68%.
It remains to be seen how far they can go when the stakes are highest, but something tells me that Ja will be prepared for anything that comes his way.
