Grizzlies star Ja Morant has been under fire for his comments about being ‘fine in the West' for a while, and even more when Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were traded to the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks. Morant spoke during All-Star weekend about how he assesses the Western Conference after the deadline.
“I'm just focused on us and what we gotta do to remain a top team and make the playoffs,” Morant said, via Vic Lombardi of Altitude TV.
"I'm just focused on us and what we gotta do to remain a top team and make the playoffs."
Ja Morant on whether the West is wide open heading into the final stretch of the season
(via @VicLombardi)pic.twitter.com/jrbkPJL2UZ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) February 20, 2023
Previously, Ja Morant doubled down on his comments, according to Khari Thompson of Boston.com.
“I don't care,” Morant said, via Thompson. “Honestly I said what I said and I meant that. The confidence I had when I said that, is the confidence that got us to the point we're at now, being a top team in the league… Yeah my confidence will never change. I don't care who got something to say about it.”
The Grizzlies and Morant sit at 35-22, good for second in the Western Conference. They are five games back of the Denver Nuggets for the first seed, and three games up on the Sacramento Kings in third, so the Grizzlies have some breathing room.
The Western Conference playoff picture has obviously changed with Kevin Durant on the Suns and Kyrie Irving on the Mavericks, and with that Morant seemingly has changed his tune when asked about his outlook for the playoffs.
Either that, or Morant knows the reaction he will get if he answers the question the same way he did before.
Regardless, Morant's banter will provide some fun storylines down the stretch in the regular season and in the playoffs.
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