Ja Morant

Temetrius Jamel "Ja" Morant is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA).Who is currently taking the NBA by storm with his tenacity, athleticism and never back down attitude. He is the current starting point guard with the Grizzlies. He has dazzled his way into the NBA by throwing some nasty dunks and getting some nice blocks with his amazing vertical, reminding people of a young Derrick Rose. Ja led the NCAA in assists at Murray State University and he is the only player as a sophomore to have 20- plus points and 10 plus assists per game for a single season.

Early Life

Ja Morant was born in Dalzell, South Carolina, to Tee and Jamie Morant on August 10 1999. His mother was a point guard in high school and a softball player in college, while his father played with Ray Allen in high school and played basketball for Claflin University. He played semi-professionally for a short while and considered playing pro ball overseas.But when Jamie became pregnant with Ja, he abandoned his basketball career and stayed at home to look after his partner and his baby boy ,changed careers and decided to become a barber.

Ja attended Crestwood High School in South Carolina, he graduated school with be the all-time leading scorer, with 1,679 points, and scored a career-high 47 points.In his last two seasons at Crestwood he averaged27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game earning him South Carolina 3A All State-honors both years.He also left high school as an three time all region MVP.

NBA Journey

Ja decided to attend Murray State University after being noticed by their assistant coach James Kane while getting a snack he saw him play 3v3 and decided to call their head coach Matt McMahon, who decided to offer him a full athletic scholarship. He recorded his first triple double just after a month of his debut and it was only the second triple double in school history, the first one coming in 1984. Ja finished the game with 11 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists. He became the seventh freshman in over two and a half decades to have 150 rebounds, 150 assists and 10 blocks while shooting at least 42% from the field.

Ja Morant was on the radar of a few scouts during the summer of his sophomore season in 2018. He was one of 20 players invited to Chris Paul's Elite Guard Camp, which Morant called, "an honor." When his sophomore season began, Morant assumed a leading role for Murray State with the departures of key players. In his season debut, he recorded 26 points and 11 assists in a 74–53 win against Wright State. On November 24, 2018, Morant posted 29 points, a season-high 13 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 77–66 win over Missouri State, becoming the first Murray State player to ever record multiple triple-doubles. In his next game, he scored a season-high 38 points in a 78–72 loss to Alabama, By around December 2018, Morant was almost unanimously projected as a top-five selection in the 2019 NBA draft, and in late January 2019, at least one outlet forecasted him as the first overall selection

Ja morant was picked second by the Grizzlies , he went to score his first career double-double just 21 days after his debut and his first triple double only 90 days after his double double. He went on to win rookie of the year leading all rookies in assists (7.1 Per Game) and point with (17.8 Per Game).

Within just 10 months and into his first season Ja scored his then career high 44 points alongside nine assists, two rebounds, and two steals against the Spurs. He also made his first playoff appearance during this season. Owing to the new play-in style tournament, Ja and the Grizzlies secured a playoff berth after four seasons, he went on to score 35 points 6 rebounds and 6 assists beating Golden State to clinch the spot. A few days later he would go on to make his first playoff appearance scoring 26 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists leading the Grizzlies to a Game 1 victory over the Jazz. Morant followed that up with 47 points and 7 assists in Game 2, but the Grizzlies lost and they would eventually lose in five games to Utah.

In his second season Ja starts off with a victory against the Cavs scoring 37 points and dishing out 6 assists. He goes on to have two 41 point season high games against the Lakers and Spurs. Gets selected for his First All Star game, the next day after his selection he goes on to get his career fourth triple- double. A year after his first triple-double, he set a then new career high of 46 points, it also became the most points scored by a Grizzlies Player surpassing that of Mike Miller. On February 28 th, just a year and two months after his first career high score he broke it with 52 points and an efficient 22-of-30 shooting, including 4-4 from beyond the arc against the Spurs.

He was also named Most Improved Player. In the first round of the playoffs, In Game 5 Morant scored the game-winning layup with one second left, finishing with 30 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists in a 111–109 win against the TimberWolves. The Grizzlies would then go on to face the Golden State Warriors in the Second Round of the Playoffs. Morant put up a playoff career-high 47 points along with 8 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals in a 106–101 win over the Warriors. He scored the last 15 points for Memphis and also became just the third player in NBA playoffs history to have multiple 45-point games before turning 23 years old, joining Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. He sadly got injured and Memphis lost in six games.

Ja Morant Records

1. Led the NCAA in Assists (2019)
2. School record for most assists in a game(18)
3. Morant also became the first NCAA Division I men's player in 20 years to tally at least 40 points, 10 assists, and 5 steals in a single game.
4. NBA Rookie of the Year (2020).
5. NBA All Star (2022).
6. All-NBA Second Team (2022)
7. NBA Most Improved Player (2022)
8. NBA All-Rookie First Team (2020)
9. Consensus first-team All-American (2019)
10. Lute Olson Award (2019_·
11. Bob Cousy Award (2019
12. OVC Player of the Year (2019)
13. 2× First-team All-OVC (2018, 2019)
14. OVC tournament MVP (2019)

Ja Morant Net Worth

Ja Morant is worth around $ 80 million; he earns a salary of $ 11 million annually. On July 6, 2022, Morant signed a five-year extension with the Grizzlies. The deal includes $193 million of guaranteed money, increasing to $231 million contingent upon his selection to an All-NBA team. He has a diverse portfolio of around $ 27 million in assets and other investments. He also has seven cars and a yacht. He has a $ 14 million house in his hometown of Dalzell, South Carolina.

Ja Morant Family

Ja Morant has a younger sister, Teniya who is currently a middle schooler at Hill Crest Middle School. Ja also has a baby daughter with his Girlfriend KK Dixon who was born in 2019. Ja Morant’s dad gave up basketball for him so that he could become better than him, so he knows the meaning of this sacrifice. He also has a tattoo under his left arm which says.” "Beneath no one.” Which is the advice his mother gave him.

Read more about Ja Morant's parents.