SI

Kevin Durant Paid Ja Morant Major Compliment After His 360-Degree Layups

The Grizzlies guard completed two of these extremely athletic layups on Monday night.

Madison Williams

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant jumps up for a layup.
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant jumps up for a layup. / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
In this story:

Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant shocked the sports world when he completed not one, but two 360-layups on Monday night—including his fellow NBA star, Phoenix Suns forward Kevin Durant.

Durant paid Morant a pretty high compliment when discussing the incredible moves with Kay Adams on Up & Adams. He called the 25-year-old the "most athletic person" he's ever seen. Wow.

"My goodness," Durant said. "The most athletic person I've seen... I didn't want to give him that 'cause he's young and there's been a lot of great athletes in the history of sports, but com eon now. To pull that off that smooth, that easy, it's ridiculous. He's a top-level athlete."

These are the two plays Durant is referencing.

Adams joked that Durant needs to try this move next. But, Durant said if he attempted a 360-layup like Morant did, he would appear "washed up" and look like "trash." It doesn't sound like he will be attempting this move anytime soon, if ever.

More of the Latest Around the NBA

feed

Published
Madison Williams
MADISON WILLIAMS

Madison Williams is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated, where she specializes in tennis but covers a wide range of sports from a national perspective. Before joining SI in 2022, Williams worked at The Sporting News. Having graduated from Augustana College, she completed a master’s in sports media at Northwestern University. She is a dog mom and an avid reader.

Home/NBA