Memphis Grizzlies: Comparing Ja Morant to past and current NBA stars

Allen Iverson created a path for players like Ja Morant and Derrick Rose to succeed

If not for Allen Iverson, the NBA may not have looked twice at players like Ja Morant, Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose. Their games aren’t necessarily fundamentally sound, but their explosiveness allows them to guide their team to victory.

Iverson was arguably the first player like this. He was a point guard with a “don’t care” attitude before it was cool to be that guy. Morant may not draw many comparisons to Iverson, but these guys are very similar players.

Here’s what their rookie stats looked like:

Ja Morant: 17.8 PPG, 7.3 APG, 3.9 RPG, 0.9 SPG, 47.7% FG, 33.5% 3PT FG

Allen Iverson: 23.5 PPG, 7.5 APG, 4.1 RPG, 2.1 SPG, 41.6% FG, 34.1% 3PT FG

Those Iverson stats are not a typo by me, he was that dominant of a player in his first year in the league. Obviously, Morant hasn’t put up the same type of numbers, but he’s on track to get there at some point in his career.

You see similarities in their scoring numbers, assist numbers, and even field goal percentages. Morant may not be as lethal of a scorer as Iverson was, but there’s no reason why he can’t become that guy.

Iverson would go on to win league MVP, so if Morant can even find a sliver of the success that Iverson did in Philadelphia, the Grizzlies are in good hands.