Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times was the only writer to vote for New Orleans Pelicans power forward Zion Williamson as Rookie of the Year, preventing Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant from winning the award in unanimous fashion.
As expected, once Morant found out that it was Cowley who voted for Williamson and not him, the explosive guard took to social media to call out the veteran Chicago sportswriter.
appreciate you 🤝 i’m not gonna do too much , ima let everybody else do dat . i just wanna know why lol 🤔👂🏽
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) September 19, 2020
What in the world was Cowley thinking here? Zion Williamson appeared in only 19 games before the 2019-20 season was suspended in March (the 2020 NBA awards were based on the stats players put up prior to the season getting put to a halt due to COVID-19).
Ja Morant, meanwhile, played in 59 games before Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19, causing a cascading effect of leagues suspending or canceling, including the NBA in March. The Grizzlies star averaged 17.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from beyond the arc and 77.0 percent from the free throw line.
Neither the Pelicans nor the Grizzlies made the 2020 playoffs. However, Memphis was part of the play-in game against the Portland Trail Blazers, a contest the team ultimately lost. New Orleans, meanwhile, played awful during the seeding games at Walt Disney World and fired head coach Alvin Gentry upon returning to the Big Easy.
Both Morant and Williamson have extremely bright futures in the NBA. However, this mistake by Cowley is going to fuel Morant even more to have a better overall career than Williamson.
It's safe to say Grizzlies fans can't wait to see Morant put on a show in 2020-21.
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