When he sees Ja Morant play, he sees him go up the court in the Memphis Grizzlies jersey he himself was wearing not long ago, Zach Randolph can’t help but smile.
“He could be my son!” Randolph, 38, laughs and points out that his oldest son, 21, is actually older than the 20-year-old rookie star.
But it is not the thinking of the next generation that has him smiling.
Randolph, who played for the Grizzlies for eight memorable seasons, regularly made the trip from his home in Los Angeles back to Memphis after retiring in 2019 and before the COVID-19 pandemic temporarily closed the 2019-20 season. It gave him a chance to get up close to Morant, the team’s rookie star and second-overall pick in last June’s draft, and also see the impact Morant is having on the fan base. And in doing so, what he sees more than anything is not a next generation, but a continuation of the last.
“He is like me,” says Randolph. “Blue collar player. Honest. Humble. Heart like a giant. He returns. The people of Memphis see that Ja is just like them too: a hard worker, where nothing has been given to him.”
“This city is the best place for him. Because of his personality.”
30 teams, 30 days: The most important story of every NBA team before the return of the league.
Atl The | Bos The | Bkn The | Cha The | Chi The | Cle
Dal The | Den The | Det The | GS The | Hello The | Indiana
LACQUER The | LAL The | Mem | Mia | Thousand | Min
NO | NY | OKC | Orl | Phi | Pho
By | Sac | SA | Tor | Uta | I was
Randolph has followed his former club closely to see where the franchise was heading as it was rebuilt from the Grit and Grind era. Few could have predicted that the Grizzlies would have a shot at the playoffs at this point, as the NBA restarts in Orlando later this month. However, Randolph likes what he sees. “The future is bright for these young Grizzlies,” he says. “I think that as an organization we are going in the right direction.
“The sky is the limit for Ja. I love his leadership. What he has already accomplished, being a franchise player, leading this team as a rookie.” Randolph laughs again, thinking of the effect Morant has had on the franchise, beyond his vision for the court, beyond his electrifying math: “Half the gym will be a fan of Murray State.”
Joe Murphy / Getty Images
This, more than anything, is what we expect from Morant, from where we met him in Little Murray, Kentucky, to Memphis. Wherever you go, it carries with it a magnetism. People should look at it, they should support it, it should be with he.
“It’s their mentality,” says teammate Jaren Jackson Jr. “Fans in Memphis are very hungry. They love the fact that they’re always somehow underdog, somehow. Honestly, it’s a perfect fit.”
Morant enjoys the same thing. When people have counted their team. When they can’t imagine a school, they have never heard of beating a fifth seed in the NCAA tournament. When they predict that their NBA team will not achieve 27 victories. Like his city, “it stands out when people think it’s underdog,” says Murray State assistant coach Casey Long.
“We can always talk about what he does in the gym, but it’s what he does outside that makes him a complete pro,” says Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins. “The amount of movies he watches, the amount of dialogue he has with his teammates. He is building that chemistry and becoming that leader.”
“He’s a guy who leads by example, he doesn’t say too much, but he’s very good at communicating what he wants to do on the pitch in terms of direction,” says Jackson. “As a point guard you have to be able to do that, be an extension of the coach. He does a great job of that.”
Joe Murphy / Getty Images
And for Morant, it’s not just about personal expectations. It is a feeling of collective pride. “She carries the city she is on,” says Long. “He is incredibly proud to not only become the fabric of that city but to want to put it on the map.”
Memphians have hugged him, and he has become a regular at local institutions like the Arcade Restaurant, where Elvis Presley used to sit near the back door so that he could easily escape if a fan approached him uncontrollably.
When Morant and Jackson returned in January, Morant ordered what his waiter wanted to serve him; would be open to anything. “We brought her Elvis’ favorite peanut butter fried banana sandwich,” says Kelcie Zepatos, who runs the restaurant (the oldest in Memphis, which opened in 1919) with her husband, Jeff Zepatos.
Kelcie remembers the atmosphere during the season: the energy that Morant helped bring: “It’s electrifying. You can feel the buzz on the streets,” he says. “Even for dinner before games, you see everyone walking.”
When Morant signed his rookie contract with the Grizzlies in July, he took his family, about eight people, to the famous Majestic Grille on Main Street, about two blocks from where the Grizzlies play. The restaurant used to be a silent image theater and has been around for over 100 years. Morant walked in, wearing a tie, happy to be with his loved ones, and embarked on his dream of becoming a professional.
“The whole family was tickled, just sweet,” says Deni Reilly, who runs the restaurant with her husband, Patrick Reilly. “I remember thinking: It’s very young! We were all excited to have such a high selection. “
Reilly’s son Seamus, 7, immediately became one of Morant’s biggest fans. Every time Morant runs across the court and scores inside, Seamus approaches the television and exclaims, “That quick guy! That’s the fast guy!” Fast guy is his nickname for Morant.
Mark Griffin, manager of one of the city’s many local Huey restaurants, has been a fan of the Grizzlies since the team moved from Vancouver. “That was a big problem, when we finally got a franchise,” says Griffin. He felt that Morant was the right choice for Memphis. “You really loved the guy from the start. We started clicking right away with him and his loser story. It’s so fun to watch him.”
That’s what motivates season ticket holder Lucas Horrell, 34, to take a four-hour round trip from his home in Missouri just to see the team play at least once a week. He sits close to Morant’s parents and knows the family a little.
“For me it’s almost like a vacation: escape, enjoy the game,” he says.
It has given high hopes for the future. “It is helping to develop the Grizzlies’ new identity,” says Reilly. “Even with the glasses she makes, she has given us a personality.”
Joe Murphy / Getty Images
Horrell adds: “When he’s on the court, the whole team seems to flow better.”
The results on the court, in fact, have been a great improvement. With an average of 17.6 points and 6.9 assists per game, Morant is the big favorite to win the Rookie of the Year and has helped the Grizzlies to a record 32-33 after they were 33-49 last season and 22-60. the previous season. They enter the restart in eighth place in the Western Conference standings, 3.5 games ahead of the Trail Blazers, Kings and Pelicans. If all goes according to NBA plan, teams will play the last eight games of the regular season when the game resumes, after which the eighth-place team will make the playoffs if it is ahead by more than four games or play a play-in tournament against the ninth place team if not.
Morant seems to be very ready for the challenge, to return to him. When the players were allowed to resume practice together, Jackson says, “We were there as much as possible, literally. It seemed like we lived there, almost. Anyway, that’s how we like it.”
Morant also gained 12 pounds of muscle during the shutdown, according to his former Murray State coaches, with whom he still consistently records. Not that everything is basketball, all the time. Morant, who became a father last August and is an active Instagram photo installer of his daughter, now has more than hoops to talk to his old trainers. They talk about the first smiles. Clean. Diapers Giggles First Teeth Drag Stay up all night. He recently joked with the coaches about how everyone manages to get some sleep.
“We are seeing him become a man before our eyes,” says Long.
Brandon Dill / Getty Images
A man with the same behavior he had in college, eager to make his mark, eager to prove people wrong. “He’s kept that same hunger,” says Tim Kaine, another assistant coach at Murray State. “He just stays focused, always in the moment.”
“I see a huge commitment from him every day to improve,” says Murray State head coach Matt McMahon. “That will really allow him to continue to grow to stardom for the next 15 to 20 years.”
“He is a unique player in life.”
One that seems to fit in with the small-town feel of Memphis, just like it did in Murray, Kentucky, and Dazell, South Carolina, where he was born and raised. That’s something his high school coach, Dwayne Edwards of Crestwood High, hopes he never forgets.
Edwards attended a Grizzlies game this season and proudly wore his Crestwood basketball jersey. He saw his former player doing reel dunks, absorbing contact, dazzling, finishing. It looked comfortable. It looked like it belonged.
Edwards thought of a conversation he had with Morant when he was drafted by Memphis, one he had with him regularly over the years, from high school: “Regardless of where you are, remember where you are from,” Edwards told Morant. . “Be proud of where you are from. Please always remember. Always remember where you started.”
Mirin Fader is a staff writer for B / R Mag. She has written for him Orange County Registry, espnW.com, SI.com and Knock. His work has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the US Basketball Writers Association, the Football Writers Association of America, the Los Angeles Press Club, and the Best American Sports Writing series. Follow her on Twitter: @MirinFader.
.
