Former Michigan State Star Achieves Surprising First in NBA Season

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr. has been an absolute revelation this NBA season, dominating on both ends of the floor to help the Grizzlies re-establish themselves as legitimate contenders in the Western Conference.
But for as terrific as Jackson has been during the 2024-25 campaign, there was still one thing missing from his resume up until recently: a double-double.
The former Michigan State Spartans star went without achieving a double-double in each of his first 28 games until he finally broke through against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday night.
During Memphis' blowout win, Jackson posted 21 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and three blocks, giving him his first double-double of the year. The six dimes were a season-high for him, as well.
Considering that Jackson is 6-foot-10, it's definitely surprising that this marks the first occasion that he has registered double-digit rebounds this year, but rebounding has actually never been Jackson's forte and is actually the primary weakness in his game.
On the season overall, the 25-year-old is averaging 21.5 points, six boards, 1.7 blocks and 1.4 steals over 28 minutes per game on 50.2/34.9/80.7 shooting splits.
Jackson has even emerged as a sleeper MVP candidate, as he is clearly the best player on a Grizzlies team that features Ja Morant.
The Plainfield, N.J. native spent one season at East Lansing in 2017-18, recording 10.9 points, 5.8 rebounds and three blocks a night.
Jackson was selected by Memphis with the fourth overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft and even earned Kevin Garnett comparisons as he made the jump to the professional ranks.
While Jackson will likely never quite reach Garnett levels of production, he does already have a Defensive Player of the Year award under his belt, which he notched in 2022-23, his lone All-Star campaign to date.
The Michigan State product owns lifetime averages of 18 points, 5.6 boards and two blocks per game while shooting 46.4 percent from the floor and 34.5 percent from long range.
Injuries have severely limited Jackson up until this point of his NBA tenure, as he appeared in 70 contests just once over his first six seasons.
That being said, Jackson has remained healthy thus far and appears to be on track for a banner year.
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