Ja Morant

TALK ABOUT A LANDSLIDE!

TALK ABOUT A LANDSLIDE! Ja Morant is your Rookie of the Year this season, as the votes went in his favor. Everyone was taking predictions on Zion being the ROY because of the way he was playing after coming back from knee surgery (missing about 40 games).

Zion was showing that he could have been the Rookie of the Year, which the fans wanted. But when COVID hit, the NBA shut down, restarted, he was washed up. He wasn’t making explosive plays anymore, he wasn’t getting the crowd going, he wasn’t winning games with the Pelicans. It almost looked like this how rookie Zion should have been to start, so long story short, this opened a new window of opportunity to shine.

It was finally Ja Morant’s turn, now everyone didn’t believe in what the Grizzles could do in the NBA Bubble. Thinking they would have a losing record in the Bubble, but Morant went off with some of his teammates. Most notably would have been Dillion Brooks and Jaren Jackson Jr, but he showed up big time. Winning huge games, making a name for himself, plus scoring like a beast. That was the pro the Grizzlies were looking for all season.

And even though they lost in the play-in game, this team showed that they have tapped into something. Something fierce with Morant, Jackson Jr, Brooks, and potentially Clarke. The spotlight was being shined on Morant when Zion, finally, fizzled out.

Morant was averaging 17 points, 8 assists, and 3 rebounds per game. Let’s not be fooled, the only reason why Zion had scored better then Morant (by five points) was because he only played 24 games. Morant played 67 games and kept everything under control, pretty impressive that a rookie can turn into a pro without having to take 40 games of recovery time to do it.

Where did he land on the voting ranks?

There was no competition for him as he won 99 out of the 100 possible votes for Rookie of the Year. Zion Williamson got one vote, while Kendrick Nunn (Heat’s player) got none.

Morant finished with 498 points, Nunn with 204 points, and Williamson with 140 points. Morant was first, Nunn second, and Zion dead last.

Now, for the one person that didn’t vote for Morant. Morant has a “direct message” for that person:

“I want to shoot a direct message to them and thank them for motivating me even more to do more on the floor and be better and do whatever I can to help my team in a basketball game,” Morant said. “So if anyone knows who that is, let me know.”

This is what Ja Morant said when winning the award:

“Man, it’s a blessing,” Morant said on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” pregame show Wednesday night before the Boston Celtics played the Toronto Raptors. “I’m definitely honored. I put a lot of work in, day in and day out. This journey has been rough but, you know, in the end it’s all paying off. I still have a lot more work to do, but for guys, kids who are not heavily recruited right now, this gives them hope.”