Ja Morant Dishes on Lillard's Praise, Grizzlies Outlook and His Top Shot Moment

Morant on LaMelo Ball's impact on the Hornets

Ja Morant wasn’t ranked in high school. He only received one NCAA D 1 offer and was only accidentally discovered by Murray State. Morant is the type of basketball player that likes to prove people wrong and he’s done just that. Currently he is the NBA’s reigning Rookie of the Year and starring in the first-ever national ad campaign for BODYARMOR EDGE.

Right now we are in year two of the Ja Morant era but the Grizzlies are still struggling with consistency. Last year Memphis fell just short of the postseason after a narrow loss to the Blazers. Morant joins Sports Illustrated’s Kailtin O’Toole to share the importance of getting Memphis to the playoffs this season,“It’s very important not only to me but for our team, that’s one of our goals. Obviously we have a lot of guys who have been out, guys who are trying to get healthy and that plays a factor in it but we can’t worry about that too much. We have to go out and play with the players, we have to go out and try to win games.”

Memphis is doing their best to try to win games but the Grizzlies enter the NBA All-Star break with a 15-15 record, a record Morant hopes to help improve. “Being better than what I was last season is what success means to me right now and as far as the team goes, the playoffs is definitely success for our team.”

As Morant hopes for success on the court he already is experiencing it off. The NBA star is an equity partner and ambassador for BODYARMOR. Morant is helping launch BODYARMOR EDGE, a new sports drink with natural caffeine, with fellow BODYARMOR ambassador AZ Cardinals Pro Bowl QB Kyler Murray. “It’s big time. Kyler is a guy who has also proven himself in the NFL and I”m trying to do the same. I feel like BODYARMOR has that same mindset. We all want to be the best we can be and the best thing out there.”

Morant is still just two years in the league and he’s already had an impressive start to his career. The playoffs may still be in question but there is no doubt that the Grizzlies will have sustained success with Morant leading the way.