In an effort to protect his body after missing 104 games over his first five seasons, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant said he’s no longer trying to dunk the basketball.
Morant, who has dunked just four times in 12 games this season, told reporters after Tuesday’s 121-116 loss to the Dallas Mavericks that he’s trying to avoid situations where he can pick up an injury.
“Sometimes I get knocked out the air and (a foul) don’t get called, and now I’m out longer than what I’m supposed to be,” Morant said, according to ESPN. “Sometimes the foul might get called; I still hit the floor, but after the game you might feel that little fall. So I just pick and choose, man. Hey, two points is two points. I get it done. That’s all that matters.”
Morant’s propensity for high-flying, emphatic dunks, leveraging his elite athleticism and grace, has always been his biggest strength — but it has also put his body in harm’s way. His makes electrify his teammates and whatever arena he’s playing in that night but the wild attempts — and the misses, more importantly — correlate strongly with the amount of time he’s missed with injury.
During his first five seasons, Morant missed time with various injuries ranging from the knee, hip, shoulder and back. As it relates, Morant missed 50 dunks during that same timeframe, according to PerThirtySix. Just this season, Morant sat out for 10 games after being hurt on a one-handed alley-oop dunk attempt in transition. And it’s not just dunks. Morant’s acrobatic layup attempts have also put his health at risk, twisting and turning through a conglomerate of bodies in the paint and crashing to the ground as a result.
Morant deciding to take a different approach will not only help extend his career in the long haul, but the Grizzlies as well. There are a plethora of other aspects to his game — speed, playmaking and gravity — that give Memphis an added layer of dynamism that other teams don’t have. The 14-8 Grizzlies are fourth in net rating, sitting just 2 1/2 games back of the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. Coach Taylor Jenkins has leaned heavily on a new pace-and-space approach and Morant is the quarterback of that system, using his athletic gifts to put constant pressure on opposing defenses and finding an array of shooters on the perimeter.
Because of the depth Memphis has, Morant’s minutes are down to 27.7 per night, the lowest it’s ever been. Jenkins has the luxury of extending his rotation to 12 players on some nights. The less Morant has to play — and the less he tries to dunk — the better.
“I’m not trying to dunk at all,” Morant said. “Y’all think I’m lying. I’m dead serious.”
Required reading
- Ja Morant’s confidence never left after Grizzlies’ fall from grace: ‘This is my team’
- Dunking hurts: Why players hate — and love — the NBA’s greatest feat
(Photo: Kevin Jairaj / Imagn Images)
