Ja Morant, remember him? The Memphis Grizzlies star guard has finally made it back from his 25-game suspension to start the 2023-24 NBA season, as he's seeing action Tuesday night in a road game versus the New Orleans Pelicans. Since he's making his first appearance of the season on the court in enemy territory, it was perhaps expected by many that Morant was not going to get a unanimously positive reception from the crowd.
The Grizzlies point guard got cheered and jeered by the crowd inside the Smoothie King Center when he was introduced before tipoff.
The mixed reaction shouldn't surprise Morant. He's heard it all, especially online, ever since he was punished by the league. The feeling of excitement over his return must have also greatly outweighed and drowned out the boos in the background when he stepped on the floor of the Pelicans' homecourt.
Ja Morant's return offers great hope for the Grizzlies
Now, it's all back to business for Ja Morant, whose return definitely is a tremendous boost for the struggling Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies won just six of their first 25 contests of the season and entered the meeting with the Pelicans on a five-game losing skid. During Morant's 25-game absence, Memphis ranked last in the league in scoring offense with just 105.6 points per outing. The Grizzlies were also the worst in the entire NBA in shooting percentage (43.1 FG%) and 24th in average scoring margin (-6.8) over that stretch.
Hopefully for Morant and the Grizzlies, his return will be the start of their turnaround.
In the 2022-23 NBA season, Morant averaged 26.2 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 8.1 assists across 61 games.
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