Within his first three seasons, Ja Morant has already established himself as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars.
Morant took the next step to superstardom this season, as he became an All-Star for the first time in his career, was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player, and helped lead the Memphis Grizzlies to the second seed in the Western Conference, despite tough competition from teams like Golden State and Dallas.
Ja Morant’s rise has been nothing short of spectacular. Even his father, Tee Morant, recently admitted that he didn’t expect his son to become a superstar in the NBA so quickly.
In an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape, Tee Morant revealed that while he had confidence in his son to be a star in the league, he didn’t think Morant would be as good as he is now, and especially in such a short amount of time.
“I’d be lying if I said I did,” Tee Morant said when asked if he thought his son would become an NBA star this quickly. “I’d be lying if I said he would go No. 2 in the draft. I thought he would be a top draft pick. I’d be lying if I say he’d be first-team [All-NBA]. Yeah, I’d be lying if I said all that pre-before what he’s doing. I know he had the ability to compete at the highest level, but I didn’t know it would be this quick and at this level.”
Morant was crucial in the Grizzlies defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round. But in the second-round series against the Warriors, Morant suffered a major knee injury and has now been ruled out indefinitely, with many believing that he could be out for the remainder of the playoffs.
The Grizzlies have pushed the series against Golden State to a Game 6. If they can somehow get past the Warriors in this round, then one has to believe that Morant will do everything in his power to return as soon as possible and help his team.
