On the latest episode of All The Smoke with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant talked about the Andre Iguodala situation Memphis dealt with this season.
The Golden State Warriors were forced to trade Iguodala to the Grizzlies in order to create room to acquire D'Angelo Russell as part of the Kevin Durant sign-and-trade deal. Morant was looking forward to playing with the former Finals MVP.
However, Iguodala never showed up to the team. The veteran swingman and the Grizzlies wound up agreeing that Iggy could train away from the team while the franchise looked for a trade.
Morant, the front-runner for Rookie of the Year, told Barnes and Jackson he heard Iguodala thought the Grizzlies weren't good enough:
“Coming in, when they said he was going to be on our roster, I was very excited having a vet like that in the locker room with us,” Ja Morant said.
“Me coming in that first year, I was looking forward to learning some stuff from him and he was saying he wasn’t going to play with us or whatever happened. Like you said it’s a business, all different stuff going around, somebody said he said we weren’t good enough so in my head I was like it is what it is.”
Morant and Dillon Brooks had a little back-and-forth with Iguodala through the media. The Grizzlies eventually traded the former All-Star to the Miami Heat.
Despite the awkward situation, Iguodala has still praised Morant and the Grizzlies. He even said Morant was the Rookie of the Year during a press conference.
Before the 2019-20 season was suspended due to COVID-19, Morant was averaging 17.6 points, 3.5 rebounds and 6.9 assists for the Grizzlies. Ja was also shooting 49.1 percent from the field, 36.7 percent from beyond the arc and 77.0 percent from the free-throw line.
The Grizzlies were in eighth place in the rugged Western Conference standings. That proves just how special Ja Morant is.
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