Ja Morant returned to the court this week as the Memphis Grizzlies took on the Oklahoma City Thunder. The game ended in a 102-99 loss for the Grizzlies.
Morant hadn’t been on the floor since suffering a knee injury late last month. The team had gotten off to a rough start after making the playoffs last year, beginning the season 9-10, but in Morant’s absence posted a 10-2 record.
Fans were upset by the loss to the Thunder and some blamed Morant.
“I was running down the court, and I heard some of my fans courtside tell me I need to sit back out,” Morant said. “So, I just don’t understand what they wanted to get out of that. I feel like that just makes it worse.”
Without Morant, the team beat the Thunder, one of the worst teams in the NBA, by 73 points, but couldn’t put up a win yesterday.
“I’m just frustrated,” Morant said. “Normally, y’all have seen it, when anybody says something negative about me, it fuels me. But, tonight, the remarks from the fans actually hurt. I’m going to do what I normally do and bounce back and I’m very excited for this next game.”
While the Grizzlies did go on a run without Morant, it should be noted that only three of those wins came against teams that were above .500, and some of those teams were also missing their star players. While the defensive play has been abysmal when Morant is in the rotation and was very good in his absence, the fact is that Morant is posting his best season – he’s putting up 23.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game.
Morant announced following last night’s game that he’s taking a break from social media, likely due to the negativity.
