"Bridging The Gap" Is Reason Tee Morant is Rooting For the Utah Jazz to Win NBA Finals

After the Utah Jazz eliminated the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday, Tee Morant, father of Ja Morant, told Donovan Mitchell that he was rooting for the Jazz to win the Finals

Donovan Mitchell (left) celebrates a first round win with Jazz Head Coach Quin Snyder (right)

During the second game of the Utah Jazz opening series against the Memphis Grizzlies, three fans were ejected from Vivint Smart Home Arena for using racist and other inappropriate language towards Ja Morant's family. After news broke about what happened, the Utah Jazz issued formal apologies to the Morant Family. Jazz owners Ryan Smith and Dwayne Wade alongside Donovan Mitchell, issued their own personal apologies for what happened on that Wednesday night.

Utah would go on to win games three and four in Memphis before returning home to finish out the series in game five. Before the final matchup between the Jazz and Grizzlies, Smith made the announcement that Morant's friends and family would be given complimentary lodging, transportation, and courtside seats to the game.

The Utah Jazz went on to eliminate the Memphis Grizzlies in game five by a score of 126-110. After the two teams matched up for the final time, cameras picked up a discussion between Jazz star Donovan Mitchell, and Tee Morant, Ja Morant's father.

“Ay that's why I appreciate you, and that’s why I hope the Jazz win the championship.”

This exchange between Ja Morant's dad and Donovan Mitchell is amazing 🙏

(h/t @espn_macmahon)pic.twitter.com/X6uqv310C3

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 3, 2021

Morant said to Mitchell, "Hey yo. I'm pulling for ya'll right now. Why? Ya'll didn't have to do that. Ya'll didn't have to show love to us like that. When s___ goes bad, you reach out. And that's how you bridge the gap. Most people don't realize that. But that's why I appreciate you, and that's why I hope the Jazz win the Championship."

Ja Morant sent out a tweet after the game saying, "pops a legend fr y'all don't know the half. treat everybody the same. like they're family thank you Utah Jazz & good luck - from me & my fam 

pops a legend fr 💯 y'all don't know the half. treat everybody the same. like they're family 🤝

thank you @utahjazz 🙌🏽 & good luck
- from me & my fam 🖤 https://t.co/HwtBzqwRhv

— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) June 3, 2021

Welcome to Inside the Jazz - the new Utah Jazz fan site on Sports Illustrated. Our site is currently under construction and the commenting capability is turned off. We look forward to engaging with you in the future! While we work on some exciting updates to improve your experience, you can ask us questions through one of our social media channels:

Facebook - Utah Jazz Sports Illustrated

Twitter - @Utahjazz_SI

Instagram - @UtahJazz_SI