{"id":91378,"date":"2024-08-20T09:09:24","date_gmt":"2024-08-20T13:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=91378"},"modified":"2024-08-20T09:09:24","modified_gmt":"2024-08-20T13:09:24","slug":"grizzlies-ja-morant-health-key-winning-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/08\/20\/grizzlies-ja-morant-health-key-winning-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizzlies Keystone Names Team\u2019s Key To Winning Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the 2024-25 season edges closer, star guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/m\/moranja01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ja Morant<\/a> is seeing the light for the Memphis Grizzlies.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we can win a championship next season,\u201d Morant says, per Damichael Cole of Memphis News (h\/t Grizzlies SZN).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Ja Morant on his expectations for the Grizzlies 2024-25 season:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think we can win a championship next season. Honestly, God willing, If everyone stays healthy\u201d<\/p>\n<p>(Via: <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DamichaelC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@DamichaelC<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p>REVENGE TOUR \ud83d\udd25 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ttJEKT38Ao\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/ttJEKT38Ao<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Grizzlies SZN (@Grizzlies_szn) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Grizzlies_szn\/status\/1825644448954413567?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cHonestly \u2014God willing \u2014if everyone stays healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Grizzlies\u2019 Ja Morant Names Team\u2019s Key To Winning Championship<\/h2>\n<p>Morant\u2019s confidence in his team\u2019s ability to win a championship isn\u2019t new. After he and the Grizzlies nearly defeated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/curryst01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Stephen Curry<\/a>\u2019s Golden State Warriors in the 2022 NBA Playoffs, he claimed that his team had nothing to worry about in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ja Morant says he isn&#039;t worried about ANY team in the West \ud83d\udc40 | NBA Today\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/tepeJnaR8yA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Those remarks came back to bite the Grizzlies, as the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated them in the First Round of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. Even worse, perhaps, was the media circus that followed Morant in 2022-23. Allegations of improper behavior, typically stemming from his proclivity for brandishing firearms, became so prevalent that NBA commissioner Adam Silver eventually suspended him for the first 25 games of the <em>next<\/em> season. Consequently, Memphis\u2019s 2023-24 campaign was over before it began.<\/p>\n<p>When Morant went down <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/02\/4-nba-injuries-not-to-forget\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">with a shoulder injury<\/a> after just nine games, the writing was etched into the wall. Just consider that the Grizzlies were 6-3 when Morant played, but 27-55 on the season.<\/p>\n<h2>The MRI 3<\/h2>\n<p>Next season, Memphis will have their best roster since <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gasolma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Gasol<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/conlemi01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mike Conley<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/randoza01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Zach Randolph<\/a> were leading the \u2018Grit n Grind\u2019 Grizzlies. Unfortunately, their new Big 3 has a big problem staying on the court.<\/p>\n<p>Morant, a perennial All-Star, is the team\u2019s most valuable piece. An incredible athlete and underrated passer with a knack for scoring in the clutch, he\u2019s averaged at least 25 points and 6 assists per game in each of the past three seasons. However, he\u2019s never played in more than 67 games in any season.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/b\/banede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Desmond Bane<\/a> has been a revelation in Memphis, emerging as Morant\u2019s second-in-command. Averaging at least 21 points, 4 assists, and 1 steal per game over the past two seasons, he\u2019ll continue to be counted on as a go-to scorer. The 26-year-old is particularly dangerous from beyond the arc, which has helped him complement Morant in the backcourt. Yet, he\u2019s played just 100 regular season games since 2022-23, so his durability is in question as well.<\/p>\n<p>Then there\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/j\/jacksja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/a>, whose scoring prowess makes him more of a 2B than third option. One of the better stretch-bigs in the league, Jackson Jr. averaged a career-high 22.5 points per game last season. Even more impressively, he\u2019s tallied at least 100 3s and 100 blocks in each of the past three seasons. He\u2019s far from the picture of perfect health himself though.<\/p>\n<h3>It Comes Down To Ja<\/h3>\n<p>As the Grizzlies\u2019 stars don\u2019t have a clean bill of health, their depth could be essential to them making it to the playoffs. Behind Morant will be <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/s\/smartma01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marcus Smart<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rosede01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Derrick Rose<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/k\/kennalu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luke Kennard<\/a> is set to be Bane\u2019s backup after being re-signed. If Jackson Jr. starts at power forward, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/c\/clarkbr01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Brandon Clarke<\/a> could be his primary backup.<\/p>\n<p>The biggest drop-off will likely come with a Morant injury though. For all of his defensive mastery, Smart\u2019s a relatively limited offensive player due to his streaky jumper. At 35 years old, Rose is far removed from his physical prime. So, while Morant is obviously right to hope that his team stays healthy, it\u2019ll be his health that matters the most.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the 2024-25 season edges closer, star guard Ja Morant is seeing the light for the Memphis Grizzlies. \u201cI think we can win a championship next season,\u201d Morant says, per Damichael Cole of Memphis News (h\/t Grizzlies SZN). Ja Morant on his expectations for the Grizzlies 2024-25 season: \u201cI think we can win a championship [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":91381,"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":[3127,1822,1948],"class_list":["post-91378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-grizzlies","category-basketball","category-nba","category-news","tag-desmond-bane","tag-ja-morant","tag-jaren-jackson-jr"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91378","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=91378"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91378\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/91381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91378"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91378"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91378"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}