NEW ORLEANS — Ja Morant arrived at the Smoothie King Center and walked off the Memphis Grizzlies team bus leading up to Tuesday’s game in New Orleans.
He was accompanied by veteran point guard Derrick Rose, who led the pack. It was a poetic entrance of sorts, with Morant, returning from suspension, walking through the loading dock with his head down buried in his phone accompanied by Rose, whom he grew up idolizing. There was no fanfare, no frenzy. Just business.
“It’s been all business,” Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane told The Athletic about Morant’s recent demeanor. “We talked last night after the last game. Same sh—. Keep it going, what we’ve built and done over the short time we’ve been together. Welcome back and let’s get to work. Straight business.”
Two hours after arriving, Morant made his season debut against the Pelicans, starting against Zion Williamson, on Tuesday night. Morant — a two-time NBA All-Star — missed the first 25 games of the season while suspended for multiple instances of brandishing a gun in public over the last year.
“It’s great to have Ja back,” Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said Tuesday. “He’s gone through a lot. Getting one of our leaders and core players back. The team’s fired up. He’s going to inject a lot of life into the group. It’s perfect timing.”
Here’s the latest as Morant makes his return and what else to know about his suspension:
How Morant is playing vs. Pelicans
8:30 p.m. ET — Memphis trailed by one point when Morant headed to the bench with 6:48 to go. The Pelicans responded with a 16-0 run over the next three minutes. The Grizzlies may have a soft minutes restriction for Morant but it’s clear how important he is to the offensive makeup of his team.
8:14 p.m. ET — Morant is finding his rhythm in the second quarter. He’s having no issue weaving his way through defenders and getting to his favorite spots on the floor. His outside shot still looks rusty, missing the front rim on both of his attempts from 3, but everything else looks solid.
7:56 p.m. ET — Morant is subbed out around the six-minute mark but checks back in with 1:47 to go in the first. Upon checking back in, Morant picks up two quick assists in typical fashion: attacking the paint, drawing pressure and throwing a lob to Ziaire Williams and a nifty crosscourt find to Santi Aldama for a corner 3.
7:45 p.m. ET — Morant drives into the teeth of the defense for his first possession and gets a strong second-chance opportunity against the bigger Jonas Valanciunas on his second. Outside of that, Morant has been a passenger, opting to space the floor and find his footing, moving the rock and looking for a rhythm. Defensively, he’s been matched up with Herb Jones, a tactical move by Jenkins to not expound too much energy on both ends of the floor.
Morant’s warmup, introduction
7:30 p.m. ET — Morant is introduced to a rather loud mixture of cheers and boos at Smoothie King Center, understandably so as Memphis is on the road.
7:05 p.m. ET — Tee Morant stands a few feet away from the court donning his trademark hoodie and sunglasses look. He signs a few autographs as he exits — thanks to a smattering of fans who instantly recognize him — but is more or less in incognito mode as his son, Ja, warms up.
6:37 p.m. ET — The moment is here. Morant takes the floor, hugging each member of the Grizzlies staff present before walking out onto the court. He starts his warmup by dribbling the ball rapidly back and forth as he waits for Marcus Smart and Rose to finish. Morant is working on his shots from different spots on the floor with a staff member, starting out in the midrange and progressing to the perimeter. He’s moving well and his jumper looks pure, a bit smoother than the last time we saw him in action.
Why was Morant suspended?
In June, the NBA suspended Morant for a minimum of 25 games to start the 2023-24 season “for conduct detrimental to the league.” An NBA investigation found Morant posed with a gun in a live video on Instagram in May after he previously served a suspension in March for showing a gun in an Instagram video shot at a Denver-area nightclub.
Morant, 24, was required to meet certain conditions as a stipulation for his return and he was ineligible for any public league or team activities during the suspension.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver said in June that before Morant’s return to play, the guard would be “required to formulate and fulfill a program with the league that directly addresses the circumstances that led him to repeat this destructive behavior.”
The video of Morant in May emerged and spread on social media a little over two weeks after Memphis was eliminated from the playoffs in the first round. The Los Angeles Lakers took down the Grizzlies in six games as Morant averaged 24.6 points per game in the series.
What they’re saying
Last week, Morant addressed his time away and said he spoke with Silver leading up to his likely return. Morant also said Friday that he learned about himself during therapy and revealed he had not talked to other NBA players outside of his teammates while sitting out to start the season.
“Very eye-opening,” Morant said of his work in therapy. “Kind of gave me a new look on life with how I go about my days, how I carry myself. Just being grateful and thankful that I’m still here and in the position that I’m in.”
Morant also said he did not regret his situation because “in the end, it made me better.”
“It’s still a process,” he said. “I’m not done learning myself, but I definitely understand why the things that happened, happened.”
Silver said on Dec. 9 that he was “monitoring this situation (with Morant) closely.”
“We together laid out a program for him over the last several weeks, and to the best of my knowledge, he’s complied with everything he’s been asked to do,” Silver said.
Morant said Friday that his conversation with Silver was “good,” adding: “He was just checking on me, seeing how I was doing, how the process was going.”
What else to know
As part of a civil lawsuit unrelated to his suspension, Morant testified last week in a Memphis civil court that he was acting in self-defense when he allegedly hit a teenager during a pickup game at his home earlier this year. Morant is a defendant in the civil suit filed by the teenager involved in the alleged altercation.
How have the Grizzlies fared without Morant?
To put it lightly, the Grizzlies (6-19) have struggled mightily in Morant’s absence. During the offseason, Memphis added veterans Smart and Rose, with the hope that their committee approach — having star guard Bane also handling the ball — would stabilize the team until Morant returned to the fold. But the Grizzlies have been decimated with injuries across the board, with Smart and Rose missing a combined 25 games this season already.
As a result, Memphis has needed to resort to a revolving door of options, including promoting 5-foot-8 point guard Jacob Gilyard from their G-League affiliate and signing Shaquille Harrison and Jaylen Nowell to 10-day contracts. It’s no surprise that the Grizzlies are just 22nd in turnovers (14.8), 27th in assists (23.9) and 28th in points in the paint (44.7).
Morant, who finished second-team All-NBA in 2022, is one of the most gifted young lead ball handlers in the league, combining speed, power, vision and a penchant for flair in his all-encompassing attack. Memphis has sorely missed his dynamic presence, his gravity and his ability to shoulder an offense that ranks dead last in offensive efficiency, according to Cleaning the Glass. If there is any reprieve from their struggles, it lies in the growth of Jaren Jackson Jr. and Bane, who have taken on added responsibilities and have turned a corner recently, averaging 25.5 and 27.9 points per game, respectively, in December.
How to watch
TNT will air and stream Tuesday’s game at 7:30 p.m. ET. A streaming option is also available on NBA League Pass.
Required reading
(Photo: Chris Graythen / Getty Images)
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
