Colin Cowherd says he’s ‘very skeptical’ of long-term success of Ja Morant

Memphis Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant has taken the NBA by storm this season. Whether it’s his jaw-dropping highlights, his ability to get in the paint and dominate, his leadership or how he has turned the franchise into legitimate NBA championship contenders, fans are going crazy for the third-year player out of Murray State.

The 6’3,” 175 pound point guard is averaging 27.6 ppg, 6.6 apg, 5.9 rpg and has the Grizzlies in position to finish with one of the three-best records in the NBA this season.

However, there is one very loud voice who is not buying the long-term success of Morant. For two consecutive days and on multiple platforms, sports personality Colin Cowherd is doubting Morant’s ability to sustain success and compete for a championship.

See what he had to say on his radio show and his podcast after the Memphis Grizzlies star player scored 98 points in the span of two games.

Colin Cowherd on Ja Morant on his radio show, “The Herd with Colin Cowherd”

On the March 1 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Colin Cowherd spoke about the incredible 52-point performance against the Spurs Feb. 28.

“This Ja Morant stuff,” Cowherd said curmudgeonly. “I know he’s great. But, I want to remind you: fans and the media have fallen for this five times in the last 12 years. It’s called John Wall, it’s called Westbrook, it’s called Derrick Rose,” he said matter-of-factly.

“Derrick Rose was every bit Ja Morant. He literally took over social media, he took over cable tv. I am very skeptical about the long-term championship odds for springy athletic guards that drive and score,” he said.

He went on the make the case that players who have won multiple MVPs were largely players that passed the ball incredibly well and/or shot incredibly well. He named Magic Johnson, Stephen Curry and Steve Nash specifically.

“The guys that knock your socks off, the little guys that drive the basket because they’re not great shooters do not last,” Cowherd said. “Wall hurt. Westbrook multiple hurt.”

“The highlights last night were incredible. But, I’ve seen us do this over and over and over again. [Morant is] a good distributor. Not great. He’s got to pull up [and shoot the ball], he’s not big.

Colin Cowherd doubled down on Ja Morant on “The Colin Cowherd Podcast”

The very next day, Cowherd released a new episode of his podcast and seemed to double-down on this extremely hot take on Ja Morant.

“Derrick Rose was the best highlight player in the league. So is Ja Morant,” Cowherd said on the podcast.

“Derrick Rose was not the best player in the league. He faced, that year he won the MVP, LeBron in the Eastern Conference Finals and LeBron totally shut him down in the fourth quarter of every big game.”

Cowherd got even more precise with his assessment of Morant, characterizing him as just a really fun player to watch.

“Ja Morant’s not as valuable as Giannis. He’s not as gifted as a healthy KD. He’s not the best player in the league. He’s the best highlight.”

“I’m not saying Ja Morant won’t win an MVP. I’m not saying he won’t be a great player. I’m not saying he won’t be a Hall of Famer. I’m not saying he won’t lead his team to playoff victories and series victories. But titles—they don’t go through point guards.

He then tried to save face by saying that he likes Morant, but he thinks he has to add to his game in order to have a long NBA career.

“I’m not anti-Ja Morant. But, we’ve seen this before: hyper-athletic guards who are not great shooters. There is no hand-check. Wall can get to the basket. Westbrook gets to the basket. Derrick Rose gets to the basket.

A solution, Cowherd proposes, is for the NBA to once again allow hand checking so offensive player’s can’t get to the basket as easily.

“Gary Payton could not as easily get to the basket. You could hand check him. The hand-check should be reinstituted to the NBA. It would cut down on small guys getting hurt. They wouldn’t be able to drive to the basket as freely as they do,” Cowherd said.

You can listen to the episode of the podcast at the link below.