Ja Morant still has a lot to prove in the eye of the NBA community. With minimal success over his two-and-a-half-year career, this upcoming postseason will be a big test for him and his Grizzlies team.
Still, he has his fair share of admirers. In a recent airing on NBA on TNT, basketball legend Dwyane Wade raved about the youngster on live television, admitting that his game is compatible with his own.
“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.”
With averages of 27.5 points, 6.7 assists, and 5.8 rebounds per game on 49.5% shooting, Ja is quickly making a strong case for being one of the best players in basketball.
“When you look at Ja Morant, this kid is a generational talent,” said Kendrick Perkins. “He’s a combination of Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook with dimes like Rajon Rondo and we’ve never seen a guy like this – not a guy at this age to take over a franchise with the leadership that he’s doing.”
Most impressive of all is where Morant has taken the Grizzlies. The team is 2nd in the deep and talented West with a 45-22 record.
Regarding his comparison to Wade, he certainly plays with the same energy and hunger. It remains to be seen if he will have even half of his success.
Either way, he’s off to a pretty good start.
