The NBA world was rocked on Monday night when it was revealed that Ja Morant has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a shoulder injury. It is a massive blow for Morant and his Memphis Grizzlies, and the 24-year-old reacted to the news with a short series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter.
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— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) January 9, 2024
“Damn, dawg.”
https://twitter.com/JaMorant/status/1744596887355699547
“Just waiting for the sun to come out…”
just waiting for the sun to come out… https://t.co/DhNqlIJ7Cl
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) January 9, 2024
Anthony Sain had quoted Morant’s pinned post where he stated he knows God has got him. The sun will certainly shine on Ja, and he needs to keep his head up in what undoubtedly would be a difficult time for him.
It was under a month ago that he returned from his 25-game suspension, and to now be ruled out for the rest of the campaign would be a gut punch. What makes it all the more frustrating is that it didn’t even happen during a game.
Morant suffered the injury to his right shoulder on Saturday during practice, but it wasn’t viewed as anything too serious at first. He was even a game-time decision for Sunday’s contest against the Phoenix Suns, but later tests revealed Morant had a labral tear.
He will now undergo surgery and his season is over after just nine games. Morant is fortunately expected to make a full recovery at least.
The Grizzlies Were Trending Upward With Ja Morant
The Grizzlies had struggled mightily during Morant’s suspension, as they stumbled to a 6-19 record in their first 25 games. The two-time All-Star’s return then seemed to galvanize the whole team, and they went 6-3 with him in the lineup.
In those games, Morant averaged 25.1 points, 5.6 rebounds, 8.1 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. He was also putting up those impressive numbers despite battling an illness at one point during that stretch, which had led to him missing a game against the Denver Nuggets.
Morant was only going to get better with more games under his belt, and you’re left wondering what might have been had he stayed healthy.
A Lost Season For Ja Morant And The Grizzlies
Following their embarrassing first-round exit to the Los Angeles Lakers in the playoffs last season, the Grizzlies were determined to bounce back strongly. The first big blow in that quest came in the form of that 25-game suspension for Morant, after he flashed a gun on Instagram Live twice in 2023.
Still, many believed the team would be able to stay afloat without their superstar guard. Between the 2019-20 and 2022-23 seasons, the Grizzlies were 37-24 when he was out, but they couldn’t replicate that success in 2023-24.
His strong play and the team’s revival on his return gave renewed hope that perhaps the season could be salvaged, but it is now officially lost. The Grizzlies are currently 13-23, and they’ll need to go 28-18 the rest of the way to even finish at .500. Without Morant, that’s just unrealistic.
With everything that has happened recently with the Grizzlies, it just seems like this 2023-24 season was cursed in some way. The only potential positive that could come out of this campaign is that Memphis could end up with a top draft pick depending on how the lottery pans out. They fortunately did not give up their 2024 first-round pick as part of that Marcus Smart trade, or else this would have been a total disaster.
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