Whether Ja Morant got down last week on 4/20 or not, the 22-year-old NBA phenom unquestionably knows how to get high.
In the waning moments of the third quarter of Tuesday night’s game against the Timberwolves, the 6-foot-3 Grizzlies guard took off from just inside the free-throw line and threw down a right-handed dunk over Minnesota guard Malik Beasley that shook the rim and raised the roof at FedEx Forum in Memphis.
“I always get the best view of his dunks,” said Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke. “I was right there. I was like, ‘Yo, he just brought the ball all the way back and flushed it hard.’ That’s a play that can really get us going, can really get us hyped.”
The basket brought Memphis within striking distance entering the game’s final quarter and the Grizzlies were able to rally from 11 points down to edge the T-Wolves 111-109 to grab a 3-2 lead in their first-round Western Conference series. Of course, it was Morant that got the game-winner, a leaning, left-handed layup.
Though Morant’s fourth-quarter layup was a more important basket because it put the Grizzlies one game away from advancing in the playoffs for the first time since the 2014-15 season, it was the former Murray State standout’s third-quarter slam that people will be talking about 10 years from now. The Ja-breaker dunk should also be more than enough to earn Morant, who finished the win with 30 points, 13 rebounds, nine assists and three steals, his own signature shoe from Nike.
Expect Morant, who recorded a standing vertical leap of 44 inches before the Grizzlies drafted him No. 2 overall in 2019, and those new custom Nikes to be coming soon to a poster near you. “It’s just pure skill,” Morant told The New York Times about his dunking skills. “I don’t know too much that I can say about it. It’s just a natural thing for me. I just worry about finishing the play.”
It appears Morant can stop his worrying — and the rest of the NBA can start theirs.
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