Follow Us
Subscribe
Memphis Grizzlies star point guard Ja Morant is one of the best young players in the NBA today. He quickly became one of the must-watch athletes in the sport of basketball ever since he stepped foot on an NBA floor. His meteoric rise as the best player at mid-major Murray State is well-documented as he helped the Racers qualify for the NCAA Tournament in his two years with the school. He quickly became a fan favorite in the NBA as his high-flying antics caught the heart and excitement of many fans, which eventually led to him being named as an All-Star starter in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game. In this article, however, we will be talking about Ja Morant’s net worth in 2023 after some off-court setbacks in the young star's career have caused some controversy, including another recent IG Live gun incident.
Ja Morant’s net worth in 2023 (estimate): $80 million
Ja Morant’s net worth in 2023 is estimated to be around $80 million, per multiple sources such as CAknowledge and Sportskeeda.
Before we tackle Ja Morant, the NBA superstar, let us learn more about Ja Morant’s journey from a star high school player to NBA All-Star.
Temetrius Jamel “Ja” Morant was born on August 10, 1999, in Dalzell, South Carolina, to Tee and Jamie Morant. His mother played high school basketball as a point guard and was then a softball player in college.
His father was a high school teammate of NBA great Ray Allen before playing basketball for Claflin University. Tee Morant then played semi-professionally before considering playing pro basketball overseas. However, when his wife got pregnant with Ja, he decided to stay at home and stopped pursuing his basketball career.
Growing up, Ja Morant trained in the backyard with his father, who helped him master multiple moves and improve his physical strength. Tee even bought tractor tires to help Ja practice jumping with a soft landing:
Morant played AAU ball with the South Carolina Hornets, a small grassroots team based in Columbia, South Carolina. He played one season with future top overall pick Zion Williamson.
Ja attended Crestwood High School in Sumter, South Carolina. In his first three years with the basketball team, Morant grew from 5-foot-9 up to a legit 6-footer. He was an incredible basketball player as he became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,679 points.
In his last two years at Crestwood, Morant averaged 27/8/8 as he earned South Carolina 3A All-State honors in both years and was named a three-time All-Region Most Valuable Player during his high school career. Ironically, Ja couldn’t dunk until he was a senior.
Despite his impressive performance in high school. Ja Morant was not ranked by recruiting services such as ESPN, 247Sports, or Rivals. He only had one high-major NCAA Division I offer, and it was from South Carolina.
In July 2016, he was accidentally discovered by assistant coach James Kane of mid-major Murray State while he was looking for a snack during a camp and saw Morant playing a three-on-three game in a gym nearby.
Kane contacted head coach Matt McMahon, and they eventually offered Ja Morant a scholarship. On Sept. 3, 2016, he committed to play for Murray State.
Aside from South Carolina and Murray State, Ja Morant also had Division I offers from Duquesne, Maryland Eastern Shore, South Carolina State, and Wofford.
In his first year with Murray State, Ja Morant averaged 12.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game as he led the Racers to an Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) Championship. He was named to the OVC All-Newcomer Team and First-Team All-OVC. They qualified for the NCAA Tournament but lost to Virginia in their first game.
Ja Morant improved drastically the following year. To start, he was one of 20 players invited to Chris Paul’s Elite Guard Camp. During the season, he tore up opponents as he scored easily as well as grabbed multiple records for assists.
He finished the season averaging 24.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 10.0 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while leading Murray State to another OVC Title and NCAA Tournament berth. In their first game, they upset fifth-seeded Marquette but fell at the hands of Florida State in the next game.
After their NCAA Tournament exit, Ja Morant decided to forgo his final two years of eligibility and declared for the 2019 NBA Draft.
In the 2019 NBA Draft, the Memphis Grizzlies selected Ja Morant with the second overall pick. He signed a four-year, $39.62 million contract:
View this post on Instagram
In his rookie year, Ja Morant was selected to participate in the Rising Stars Game during All-Star Weekend. He then finished the season averaging 17.8 points, 7.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team and won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award:
View this post on Instagram
The following season, he recorded a career-high 44 points in a loss against the San Antonio Spurs. In that season, the NBA implemented the new play-in tournament to qualify for the playoffs, and Ja Morant led the Memphis Grizzlies to the No. 8 seed to face the Utah Jazz in the NBA Playoffs. Morant and the Grizzlies upset the Jazz in Game 1 but went on to lose the series in five games.
In the 2021-2022 season, Ja Morant made a leap and finished the year averaging a whopping 27.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. He was also named to his first-ever NBA All-Star Game as a West starter:
View this post on Instagram
They secured the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference but lost to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors in the second round of the playoffs. Even so, Morant signed a five-year max contract worth over $194 million guaranteed, with the opportunity to get over $231 million.
In 2022-23, Morant earned his second consecutive All-Star nod as the Grizzlies again got the No. 2 seed in the West, but he did not make All-NBA and lost out on $39 million because he's not eligible for a supermax contract. Morant also dealt with some adversity because of off-court issues, which likely played a factor in him missing out on All-NBA. Morant was accused of assault by a teenager after a home basketball game gone wrong (he recently filed a countersuit), and there have been other accusations of questionable behavior. His crew was also involved in an incident with the Indiana Pacers that left Pacers employees feeling threatened.
Perhaps most notably, Morant was suspended by the Grizzlies after showing off a gun in a strip club on IG Live. The star point guard wound up returning to the team later in the season, but Memphis lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Lakers. During the second round of the playoffs, Morant was then seen on another IG Live with a gun, resulting in another suspension. It's unclear if he'll be suspended to start the 2023-24 season, but it appears to be a possibility.
As for his endorsements, the high-flying, electrifying guard signed a deal with major shoe company Nike even before getting drafted into the NBA:
View this post on Instagram
On top of that, he also has endorsement deals with brands like Wendy’s, BODYARMOR, Uber Eats, PSD, and Hyperice. Morant also recently signed a deal with Powerade to be the face of their brand, though they had to pull an ad after his gun incident. We will see what happens with his endorsement after this latest incident.
Morant was well on his way to becoming one of the most marketable young stars in the NBA. His recent off-court incidents are a blemish on his reputation, but he has plenty of time to turn things around and become one of the faces in the league, which would only help his net worth.
With all of that being said, were you surprised about Ja Morant’s net worth in 2023?