Newly drafted Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant wore the No. 12 throughout his career at Murray State. Most players like to keep their collegiate number when drafted to the NBA, but in Morant's case, it was already taken by his new teammate, Yuta Watanabe.
Morant didn't want to press the issue, but he did have a conversation with Watanabe to address it. In the end, Watanabe graciously agreed to relinquish the number.
“I wasn’t going to like force it or anything,” Morant said Saturday after his ceremonial guitar smash at the 901 FC match. “I think that all goes to Yuta, honestly, for giving me that number.”
Morant, who the Grizzlies selected with the No. 2 overall pick in this year's draft, shared a portion of the conversation he and Watanabe had on Friday:
“First it was just him congratulating me on everything,” Morant said. “Then we got into the number talk or whatever and I just told him I didn’t want to mess anything up for him. He was like, ‘Oh nah, it’s OK, and if you want number 12 you can get it.’ Thanks to Yuta.”
Morant should be a fine addition for the Grizzlies. He knows he has some fairly big shoes to fill, though, as he'll be replacing Mike Conley at the point guard position. Conley spent his entire career in Memphis, but he was traded to the Utah Jazz last week:
“Mike Conley is a great player,” Morant said via Omari Sanfoka II of The Athletic. “I have big shoes to fill, and I wish him the best.”
The Grizzlies finished the 2018-19 season with a disappointing 33-49 overall record, which left the team out of playoff contention (12th in the Western Conference standings). Let's see if Morant can lead Memphis back to the postseason.
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