Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant had a tremendous debut campaign, which allowed him to run away with the season's Rookie of the Year award. The 21-year-old received a ton of praise for what was an historic rookie year for him, but as it turns out, his own dad is not exactly one for compliments.
Apparently, Ja's dad, Tee Morant, had just a (very) brief message for his son to congratulate him for his ROY win (h/t Chris Vernon of The Ringer):
A father/ son story. Tee Morant is one of my fav NBA dads I’ve ever come across, and he ain’t easy on Ja. Compliments hard to come by.
I was told he finally said something nice after Ja won Rookie Of The Year. Didn’t last long. 😂
Preview 2 for tomorrow w/ @JaMorant pic.twitter.com/uWqCQj5RlD
— Chris Vernon (@ChrisVernonShow) December 3, 2020
Being a man of few words, Tee Morant just had three of them for his son's amazing personal feat:
“Yeah,” Morant chuckled. “And I think it was, ‘helluva season, 12.'”
To each his own, I guess. There are more than a few parenting techniques out there, and apparently, Tee Morant has been going for a tough love type of approach. It appears to be working wonders for this father-and-son duo, with Ja emerging as one of the fastest rising stars in the NBA today.
Last season, Morant averaged 17.8 points (on 47.7 percent shooting), 3.9 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in 31.0 minutes per contest for Memphis.
The 6-foot-3 point guard took his game to another level in the Disney World bubble, but in the end, it wasn't enough for the Grizzlies to force their way into the playoffs. Memphis eventually succumbed to Damian Lillard Portland Trail Blazers in an unprecedented mini play-in tournament for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.
It was a disappointing end to the season for Morant and Co., but there's no denying that the reigning Rookie of the Year will be coming out with a vengeance for the coming season.
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