{"id":87784,"date":"2024-07-29T00:06:31","date_gmt":"2024-07-29T04:06:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=87784"},"modified":"2024-07-29T00:06:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T04:06:31","slug":"grizzlies-face-franchise-updates-injury-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/07\/29\/grizzlies-face-franchise-updates-injury-status\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizzlies\u2019 Face of Franchise Updates Injury Status"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Memphis Grizzlies star guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a> believes he\u2019s \u201cfully (ready) to go\u201d after undergoing <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/02\/4-nba-injuries-not-to-forget\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">a season-ending shoulder surgery<\/a> in January. However, the 24-year-old needs to build his endurance before the start of the 2024-25 season after playing just nine games since the 2023 NBA Playoffs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m really fully (ready) to go, it\u2019s just building endurance now,\u201d Morant told WPSD Local 6\u2019s Adam Wells ahead of his <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GDeMarraisTV\/status\/1817397085420872017\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hall of Fame induction<\/a> at Murray State University. \u201cSo, if I had to pick a number, I\u2019ll say probably like 75 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ja Morant was asked by <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheAdamBWells?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TheAdamBWells<\/a> about his health.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;If I had to pick a number I&#8217;d say probably 75%, and I feel like that&#8217;s still scary for whoever&#8217;s in front of me&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Morant is in Murray hosting a camp ahead of his HOF Induction. More to come tonight at 6 &amp; 10 on <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/WPSDLocal6?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@WPSDLocal6<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/at06SZcC34\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/at06SZcC34<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Logan Whaley (@LoganWhaleyWPSD) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LoganWhaleyWPSD\/status\/1816534889249874329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 25, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI feel like that\u2019s still scary for whoever\u2019s in front of me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Expecting to be fully healthy by October, Morant\u2019s return couldn\u2019t come at a better time for the Grizzlies. Memphis has their most talented roster <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/04\/07\/grizzlies-retire-jersey-beloved-big-man-marc-gasol\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">since the days they were led<\/a> by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/conlemi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Conley<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Gasol<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randoza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Randolph<\/a>. With career averages of 22.5 points and 7.4 assists per game, the 2020 Rookie of the Year could help them make a push for a Western Conference Finals appearance, or more. If so, it\u2019ll be the best postseason run that the Grizzlies have had since 2013.<\/p>\n<h2>Grizzlies\u2019 Ja Morant Updates Injury Status<\/h2>\n<p>A two-time All-Star, Morant has become the undisputed face of the Grizzlies.<\/p>\n<p>An exceptionally athletic point guard whose straight-line speed and springiness make him a terror on the way to the rim, Memphis relies on him heavily. As the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, that responsibility comes with the territory. Nonetheless, Morant has arguably shouldered that burden better than any top-three pick in the last five years. Leading the Grizzlies to three consecutive postseason appearances between 2021 and 2023, he\u2019s arguably been better in the playoffs. In 19 career playoff games, the Dalzell native has averaged 27.3 points, 8.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.<\/p>\n<p>However, with the development of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/banede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Desmond Bane<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jacksja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jacksgg01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">GG Jackson II<\/a> in particular, Morant now has plenty of help. Even more importantly, they all mesh well with him.<\/p>\n<p>Bane is an All-Star-caliber scorer whose ability to knock down 3s allow him to play off of Morant all but seamlessly. Jackson (Jr.) is a skilled big man with a propensity to launch from deep himself. Though Jackson (II) is much more of a forward than big man, his perimeter-oriented game also makes him a great off-ball threat.<\/p>\n<p>Last season, the trio scored 60.8 points per game combined.<\/p>\n<h3>Ja Morant\u2019s Off Court Development<\/h3>\n<p>Unfortunately, Morant\u2019s needed more development off the court than on it.<\/p>\n<p>Since the 2022-23 season, he\u2019s made headlines for what were frankly a few knucklehead decisions at best. This not only damaged his reputation but led to him being suspended for the first 25 games of 2023-24. With that being said, only time will tell if Morant\u2019s ready to become the role model that the Grizzlies and others want him to be. Preferably, he\u2019d become a firearm safety advocate, recognizing that he has millions of young fans looking to him for cues.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Memphis Grizzlies star guard Ja Morant believes he\u2019s \u201cfully (ready) to go\u201d after undergoing a season-ending shoulder surgery in January. However, the 24-year-old needs to build his endurance before the start of the 2024-25 season after playing just nine games since the 2023 NBA Playoffs. \u201cI\u2019m really fully (ready) to go, it\u2019s just building endurance [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":87785,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,1608,62,3],"tags":[1822,4745,4557],"class_list":["post-87784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grizzlies","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-ja-morant","tag-nba-injuries","tag-nba-offseason"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87784","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87784"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87784\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87785"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87784"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87784"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87784"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}