Ja Morant's enthralling start to his NBA career encounters a speed bump as the Memphis Grizzlies point guard gets listed as week-to-week following a re-aggravation of his back injury.
The unfortunate incident took place during the Grizzlies' game against the Utah Jazz on Friday but it all began when Morant crashed into a courtside photographer in Memphis' matchup with the Indiana Pacers back on Monday.
Ja Morant is forced to leave the floor with a lower back injury after taking a knee in the back from a court-side photographer 😬pic.twitter.com/Yw1tciB3b6
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) November 26, 2019
The recent developments prompted Morant to air out a suggestion directed towards the NBA.
let’s move the cameramen back 🤝@NBA
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) December 1, 2019
Morant is not the first player to get hit down the baseline. For one, LeBron James, when he was still with the Cleveland Cavaliers, sustained a cut on his head after his momentum brought him to the camera crew and photographers' bay in the NBA Finals.
While the proximity — same goes with fans sitting very close to the action — poses a real hazard, the NBA has been operating this way for the longest time. On the other hand, one can easily argue that the league need not wait for something worse to happen before they take action.
With Ja Morant out, the Grizzlies will have to rely on former Duke Blue Devil Tyus Jones to quarterback for the time being. In 19.3 minutes per game, Jones holds averages of 5.9 points and 4.6 assists. These numbers pale in comparison to the Rookie of the Year frontrunner's 18.6 points, 6.4 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, giving head coach Taylor Jenkins quite a dilemma on his plate.
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