MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Last Friday, speculation began that Ja Morant would possibly return to the Grizzlies lineup after missing eight games due to an ankle injury he suffered back in December.
Morant’s status on the injury report improved from “out” to “questionable” ahead of the Grizzlies second game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Unfortunately, that game had to be postponed due to COVID-19 protocols, and some of the Timberwolves’ players testing positive, such as Karl Anthony Towns.
The Grizzlies returned to Memphis, to play host to the Philadelphia 76ers and head coach Taylor Jenkins said Morant would go through warmups, and then they would make a decision as to if he would play. Roughly an hour later, the team announced Morant would not only play but start for Memphis.
After almost three weeks of not being able to play and be there on the court with his teammates, Morant said he turned to his faith to get him through those dark days.
“I leaned on God,” Morant said after the Grizzlies 106-104 victory over the Sixers. “I feel like everything happens for a reason.”
Morant started off slow in the first quarter scoring only 2 points from free throws, but after that, the franchise player showed his dominance and willed his team to victory. Morant finished the night with 17 points, shooting 7-14 from the field, and had 6 assists.
Morant spoke emotionally after the game, reflecting on what he had been through rehabbing and getting back within three weeks from his injury. He said he had a lot of support from current and former teammates, family and friends, and fans.
“I had some players here in this league send me texts when I got hurt,” Morant said. “All that, I felt like helped me a lot. But as far as me realizing how mentally strong I am, I feel like that was big, especially being out. I look at it. I’m not even going to say it, because I might get emotional here. It is finally good to be back out there.”
Morant was referring to a quote which reads, “Sometimes you don’t realize you’re actually drowning when you’re trying to be everyone else’s anchor.” During his injury, Morant posted many bible scriptures and inspirational posts.
Morant said it was very hard for him to sit back on the sidelines and not out there with his teammates.
“Being out, it was tough for me where I went through this mental thing, where I was really down when I went down in the Nets game,” Morant said.
Morant said he did everything he could to get back in the game against Brooklyn but had to accept he was injured and could not.
“So after that, I was just frustrated, but these are my guys. I’m very confident in them. Anything I can do to help, I’ll do for them. That was me being on the sidelines, just telling everybody what I see out there on the floor from the side,” Morant said.
Morant added, “I also got to see you what our coaches see. Sometimes when you’re out there, you don’t see those things, so I feel like that helped me a lot. Now I feel even better being able to be back out there.”
Now Morant is back and ready to help his team build on this four game winning streak they are on. The Grizzlies next game is against the Phoenix Suns on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but it is unclear if that game will happen, as the Suns are going to COVID-19 contact tracing which has caused some of their games to be postponed.
