The Memphis Grizzlies are turning things around, and all it took was the returns of Ja Morant and Marcus Smart to jolt some life back into a flatlining franchise. One underrated impact of Morant's return is that it reduced the burden Jaren Jackson Jr. carried in terms of creating offense.
On Tuesday night, in a 116-115 overtime win over the New Orleans Pelicans, Jackson put up a solid 19 points, 10 rebounds, and one block, flourishing in more of a support role.
In fact, it was a historic night for Jackson, adding the cherry on top of what was already an enthralling night that ended in victory. The Grizzlies star big man, in breaching the 5,000-point mark for his career by scoring more than nine points against the Pelicans, is now the fastest player in NBA history to tally at least 5,000 points, 600 blocks, and 400 three-pointers for one's career, needing just 296 games to do so.
The previous holder of the record was Kristaps Porzingis; Porzinis needed just 314 games to be a member of the aforementioned statistical club. Joining the Grizzlies big man as the five fastest players to accomplish the feat are Joel Embiid (362 games), Karl-Anthony Towns (426 games), and Myles Turner (438 games).
This combination of outside marksmanship and rim protection is what makes Jaren Jackson Jr. one of the most valuable big men in the entire association. He was clearly miscast as a primary scoring option for the Grizzlies earlier this season, but now, he is once again proving that he's an otherworldly two-way force — as evidenced by his latest accomplishment.
Follow Us
Subscribe