Memphis Grizzlies keeper Ja Morant is having an intense season. Morant led his team to the second-best record in the NBA, and they went over 50 wins for the first time since the 2014-15 campaign. And Memphis still has a chance to set the franchise record for regular season wins (56) with seven games remaining. Grizzlies will probably be Seed number 2 in the Western Conference Qualifiers.
None of this would have been possible without Morant, who should be shoot at for Most Improved Player of the Year. Morant has increased by more than eight points per game on average. He averaged 19.1ppg last season and up to 27.6ppg this year. Even though he’s only played in 56 games, I don’t think that’s as important as in the MVP discussion. A discussion in which Ja will also receive some considerations.
Ja has had such an incredible season that he has been compared to Philadelphia 76ers and Hall of Famer legend Allen Iverson. It’s a huge honor for any player to be compared to an iconic player like Iverson, who doesn’t get enough credit for his contributions to the NBA. Whenever we hear about players that have had a big influence on the game of basketball, it is usually Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, etc. These players significantly influence the way Play basketball at every level.
Iverson influenced courts across America in the late 1990s with a move. The crossbody bag he made famous has been implanted in gyms and on playgrounds everywhere from ’96 on. Once Iverson gave Jordan That job, he’s a man created in the minds of hoopers. However, the original AI was more than just a crossover. Iverson had springs in his legs and wasn’t afraid to go into the land of the trees in his day.
Morant possesses many of the same qualities that make Iverson one of the biggest stars in the league. He is called a higher version of Iverson, which is not far from the truth. Their style on the field is quite similar. Although Morant is slightly taller than Iverson, both of these players are considerably shorter than most of the top players of their day. Among the top five MVP candidates, according to nba.com, no pages are listed as shorter than 6’8. Ja is significantly smaller at 6’3. He is currently sixth in the MVP race.
Year three was a breakthrough for Ja, with his attack stats increasing all-round except for assists. But when a player scores at Morant’s rate, one less assist per game can be forgiven. He improved his three-pointer rate from 30% last season to 34%. Some of Morant’s movements and behavior on the field even resemble Iverson. Morant handles the ball, ends at the belt, and overall boom remind people of Iverson.
The Answer’s third year in the NBA has seen him make significant progress, but unlike Morant. Iverson has increased his ppg by almost four from year two to three, but his scoring and three points have fallen slightly. To be fair to the AI, it was a shortened season from 1998-99, so it only had a 50-game schedule, of which Iverson played in 48. Iverson missed just 10 of the 214 possible games in the first three years. his first as a professional. By his fifth year in the NBA, Iverson had become the MVP of the league and led Philly to their first NBA Finals since they won in 1983.
So Ja still has a lot of work to do, but his trajectory has been great for nearly three full seasons. Morant got the Grizzlies after the season three, just like Iverson did with the Sixers. Iverson finished in the top five of the MVP vote after his third season. Morant could still come close to equalizing Iverson there, even though he missed a few games towards the end of the season. But his job opportunities are excellent, so there are still opportunities outside.
The young Grizzlies superstar is on his way to winning the MVP. It’s just a matter of when. But Morant also had the NBA championship in his sights when he realized that was all it was. The individual accolades are impressive, but star players who leave the game without a ring tend to go missing in later years when the player’s legacies are mentioned. Morant is not even 23 years old and seems to already understand this. You can be the match of one, but it takes a great team to win trophies and help a superstar leave a bigger legacy.
