As you may remember, Ja Morant was forced to serve a 25-game suspension last season after flashing a deadly weapon on social media for the second time in two months (1st incident- March, second incident- May). While Morant returned to action on December 19th and poured in 34 points in a thrilling 115-113 road victory over the Pelicans, Morant’s season was cut short in early January. You see, a day after the Grizzlies defeated the Lakers 127-113 on January 5th to secure their 12th win of the season, Morant suffered a shoulder subluxation/labral tear during practice and discovered that he would miss the remainder of the 2023-24 NBA season. Fast forward to early July, and you’ll notice that Morant has finally been cleared for full contact with the Memphis Grizzlies’ organization.
“Ja, it’s go time. So very encouraged, medically cleared, full go, crossed all the hurdles,” Grizzlies head coach, Taylor Jenkins said on Tuesday. “He’s been phenomenal with his rehab; now it’s full go basketball with him with all the contact. Now it’s been more on the body, getting that back in the right spot. … We can dive into his basketball plan.”
In nine total games, the 6-foot-2 springy guard averaged 25.1 points and 8.1 assists on an injury-riddled Grizzlies team that wound up finishing in the bottom half of the Western Conference. With Morant back on the floor on a full-time basis, expect the Grizzlies to return to the playoffs and compete for a championship in 2024-25.
