So far, it's been an injury-riddled start to the season for Grizzlies star Ja Morant. A repetition of a history in which his health has overshadowed his obvious talent.
Despite some wanting him to do more, Morant himself never set out to be the face of the NBA, per Nick Friedell of The Athletic. Essentially, Morant intends to play the game on his terms, not anyone else's.
“There’s a lot that comes with that… I play basketball for the love of the game, not to be the face of the NBA,” he said. “Obviously, I hear that a lot. I don’t put no pressure on it. I just go out and just play my game. Me pretty much just going out there and doing that had me in those conversations. Obviously, people have their own opinions, but I really don’t care for it too much.”
Altogether, Morant has been in the NBA for six seasons now. In 2019, he was drafted by the Grizzlies out of Murray State University. Since then, he became the 2020 Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star.
However, Morant's career has been overshadowed by injuries and issues off the court. In 2023, he was suspended by the league for posting a video of himself brandishing a gun. That same year, Morant faced a lawsuit in which a teenager claimed Morant punched him while playing in a pick-up basketball game.
Eventually, the lawsuit was dropped.
This past April, Morant was fined $75,000 for using gun hand gestures during a game.
The ‘face of the league” remains up in the air
In the interview, Morant credited guys like Steph Curry and Kevin Durant for supporting him and complimenting his game.
“I feel like that means way more to me than somebody else pretty much doing it,” Morant said. “Those guys are all-time greats, definitely going to be Hall of Famers. That’s just more respect from my peers, credit to the work I’ve been putting in, but this ain’t the end.”
As far as the discussion goes of who's “the face” of the NBA, it's very much open-ended. Curry himself said there is so much talent in the league right now, that its hard to chose one.
“That stuff takes care of itself,” Curry told The Athletic recently. “I hope there’s an energy towards being great ambassadors for the game, whoever the group of guys are, you can obviously name those between the Ja’s, the Ant’s, the Luka’s, the Wemby’s, the Shai’s and all that, JT’s (Jayson Tatum), but I don’t get caught up in that, because when I was coming up, there was never a conversation. Until you got to the finals, other people started talking about it.”
Against Curry and Warriors, Morant scored 23 points and dished out nine assists on Monday. The Grizzlies lost 131-118 and are now 2-2 to start the season.
