It was a wild scene in Memphis on Thursday as Grizzlies star Ja Morant got tossed from the game in its closing minutes. Morant, who already received one technical foul, got called for another foul on DeMar DeRozan before completely losing it on the officials in a fit of anger that cost him the game.
Ja Morant received a 2nd technical foul and an ejection for his reaction to this foul call. pic.twitter.com/MzdVTzXzOv
— Grizzlies On FanDuel Sports Network (@FDSN_Grizzlies) December 6, 2024
Morant was livid, and you could see in the video how much trouble he had keeping his emotions in check. He scored just 8 points on 2-13 shooting, but fans were too busy talking about his outburst to mention his underwhelming stat line.
“Ja Morant tweaking after fouling DeRozan bro omg,” wrote one fan in a viral post.
What makes this especially worrying for Ja is his history of controversy in the past. Just over the past few years, he’s been accused of making threats and assaults and was also suspended for flashing a gun on his Instagram Live.
The guy is known for having serious anger issues but after a miserable season and being called out by countless individuals, Morant got the help he needed to make a return and become the leader that he was always meant to be.
So when Morant came into this season with a fresh clean slate, faith was slowly restored in Ja that he could become the NBA’s next big superstar. Tonight, however, he didn’t look like it with arguably his worst performance of the season which included that scene toward the end of the game.
Of course, in all fairness to Morant, the initial call itself was pretty bad. From the look of the film, Ja had his hand straight up and did everything he could to avoid making contact with DeRozan, who was rising for a fadeaway jumper.
“Ja Morant just got ejected for being mad about the most obvious bad call of all time,” wrote one fan. “This is the reason viewership is fucking declining…”
Somehow, the Grizzlies still went on to win the game without Morant while the Kings took another loss to slide further down the standings. DeRozan was their leading scorer with 26 points, 3 rebounds, and 1 assist on 6-15 shooting. Malik Monk finished with 23 points, 5 assists, and 1 rebound on 7-16 shooting while Domantas Sabonis tallied 17 points and 6 rebounds on 7-11 shooting.
“No moral victories. This was a game the Kings should have won. The Grizzlies were missing their best player down the stretch and the Kings still couldn’t put them away,” wrote one X user. “I don’t care that the Kings ‘played a good game.’ They lost.”
Morant’s ejection was a low point for the Grizzlies in what was otherwise an encouraging game. Desmond Bane led the team with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists on 6-10 shooting. Marcus Smart dropped 18 points off the bench (one of four bench players in double figures) along with 5 assists and 4 rebounds on 5-9 shooting.
“The bench won this one. Look at those plus-minuses,” one fan replied after the game. “Picked up the starters tonight. Big win for the Grizzlies.”
The story of the night was undoubtedly Ja Morant and his ejection. In a moment of weakness, he let his anger slip against the referee, and it nearly cost his team the win down the stretch. For a guy with such a complicated history, it was also a bad look for him to lose his cool like that at such a pivotal moment of the game.
Fortunately, the Grizzlies get to move on as winners to face the Boston Celtics on Saturday, December 7th, at TD Garden. They face the Wizards on the 8th before heading home for a game against the Nets at 8:00 PM EST.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We appreciate your support.
