Ja Morant suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in early January, his already abbreviated 2023-24 campaign officially limited to just nine games. The Memphis Grizzlies' hopes of overcoming a slow start to get back into the playoff race faded when Morant went back to the sidelines, then vanished entirely as Desmond Bane suffered a severe ankle sprain just a week later.

Memphis, basically, has been out of sight and out mind among the broader NBA audience and even some fans of the team for over two months. During WWE Smackdown in Grind City on Friday, though, The Rock took a stray shot at Morant's history of gun incidents while criticizing wrestling foil Seth Rollins in singsong.

Don't get too miffed by The Rock's jab at Morant, Grizzlies fans. Note his quick, laughing “I love you Ja!” after bringing up Morant's past penchant for carelessly brandishing handguns on social media. Clearly, The Rock was just having some harmless fun at his expense in front of a partisan Memphis crowd.

Morant's response? He didn't seem too upset.

Morant hasn't been shy to express contrition for his past transgressions. Upon returning from his 25-game suspension in December, the Grizzlies' franchise player once again admitted he'd made mistakes and needed to be better going forward for not just his team, but himself and his family.

“I made a lot of mistakes, not even speaking on the ones publicly,” Morant said on December 15th. “I'm not happy that it happened, but I'm happy I had the opportunity to reflect and realize what's at stake. Me and my family were already close before, but this made us closer.”

Ja Morant shined in return from suspension

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Jim Ross with a text bubble reading "Austin is probably the most particular guy" next to "Stone Cold" Steve Austin with the WrestleMania 40 logo as the background.

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The Rock with a text bubble reading "Congratulations, Drew!" next to Drew McIntyre with the WWE logo as the background.

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Grizzlies' Ja Morant stands next to Mike Miller with agents in the background

Christopher Smith ·

Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant, yelling

The two-time All-Star didn't miss a beat once his suspension was lifted, leading Memphis to thrilling last-second victory over the New Orleans Pelicans in his season debut. The Grizzlies went 6-3 with him on the floor, with Morant averaging 25.1 points, 5.6 rebounds and 8.1 assists per game. His long-range jumper didn't look much improved, but Morant otherwise gave Memphis everything it could've expected of him and more before going down with injury.

Fortunately, Morant, Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. seem primed to make major noise in the Western Conference next season, especially if Marcus Smart's fit alongside the Grizzlies' franchise players proves as snug as it seemed at times and Vince Williams Jr. and GG Jackson take another step forward. Brandon Clarke will be back from injury, too, and the Grizzlies will have a high lottery pick to supplement their current core with another young talent or by trading their first-rounder for an impact player.

This season couldn't have gone much worse the Grizzlies, but their future still seems plenty bright. Let's see what The Rock has to sing about Morant and company the next time he comes through Memphis.