The Memphis Grizzlies are not an organization that often sends players to the NBA All-Star game. Heck, even when Memphis was making the NBA Playoffs on a yearly basis, the All-Star appearances were far and few.
In the team’s history, a Grizzlies player has only appeared in the NBA All-Star game six times. Four of these appearances alone were at the hands of somebody with the last name “Gasol.” Three of those were Marc Gasol, while one was his brother Pau.
The other two appearances were occupied by Zach Randolph, arguably the greatest Memphis Grizzly of all time. This brings the Grizz All-Star total to three players, a total that could increase to four in the very near future.
Memphis Grizzlies PG Ja Morant looks destined to make his first NBA All-Star appearance
If you’re a Memphis Grizzlies fan, there’s no way to avoid the thought, even if it’s too early in the season — Ja Morant looks like an NBA All-Star.
There’s no way around it. In two games, Morant has scored 37 and 28 points, respectively. Ever since his performances in the NBA Play-In Tournament and the NBA Playoffs, Morant has been a more commanding on-ball player. This has resulted in a significant uptick in scoring without any sort of dropoff in efficiency.
He’s been getting his points in the paint whenever he wants. It doesn’t look like there’s a defender in the league who could stop Morant, as some of the layups that he’s managing to convert are just flat-out ridiculous.
If you want to nitpick his game at all, you could point to his three-point shooting, which has been lackluster thus far. That said, it hasn’t been due to a lack of confidence. There’s no way to quantify it, but you just feel like Morant’s three-pointers are going to drop when he releases the ball.
The Grizzy point guard isn’t slacking as a passer, either, dishing out six assists in the season opener and eight assists against the Los Angeles Clippers. This has him on track with his 7.3 assist per game career average.
He hasn’t just been producing on the offensive end either. His debut performance saw Morant record a pair of blocks, one of which was one of the best NBA highlights of the season thus far. It’s hard to brag about one steal, but Morant recorded a single steal against the Clippers.
Morant won’t likely maintain a 32.5 point per game average, but if he can get his PPG number well into the 20s this season, what would stop him from being selected to the NBA All-Star game? Last year, he was one of the first guys out, so you have to assume an improved year would see him selected.
Keep an eye on Morant, as he could be the Grizzlies’ first NBA All-Star since the 2016-17 season.