How to shut down talk of the Grizzlies being better without Ja Morant

The Memphis Grizzlies have been playing at such a high level without superstar Ja Morant, it’s leaving even the most experienced basketball minds baffled.

Former longtime NBA coach Stan Van Grundy tried to articulate just how absurd the run the team has been on without it’s All-Star starter in a recent tweet.

“OK. This is getting crazy,” the coach tweeted. “Memphis just beat Milwaukee by 25 without Ja Morant. And yes Giannis and Middleton both played. The Grizzlies are 17-2 and are blowing people out when they are missing one of the NBA’s best players. I’ve never seen anything like this,” he wrote after the Grizzlies defeated the defending NBA champs by 25 points on March 26.

This 2021-22 Grizzlies squad is currently 18-2 without Morant, an unthinkable margin of victory.

No, the Memphis Grizzlies are not better off without Ja Morant

It’s absurd that we even have to have this conversation, but you need not look further than last season to end this narrative of the Grizzlies being better without Morant.

The Grizzlies were 5-4 without Morant during the 2020-21 season, which is about what you would expect from your team when the star player is not in the lineup. They were subpar without Morant last season and would not have made it to the Play-in Tournament without him.

Last season, this team was relying on guys like Jonas Valanciunas, Grayson Allen and Dillon Brooks to pick-up the slack in Morant’s absence— streaky players (at best) that all require the ball in their hands to be impactful on offense.

The 2021-22 Grizzlies have the luxury of fielding a team full of the league’s best role players and unselfish talent.

This season, we’ve seen an explosion of growth from second-year player Desmond Bane, who has increased his scoring by 9 ppg from last season.

Steven Adams, who was not with Memphis last season, has turned into one of the best glue guys in the entire NBA. His offensive rebounding, the screens he sets and his passing ability have unlocked opportunities on offense that just simply weren’t there last season.

Brandon Clarke, De’Anthony Melton and John Konchar have all taken big steps forward in their games. They are fantastic bench players who could all be the best bench player for most NBA teams.

This Grizzlies team, stocked with players all 28 years old or younger, are still figuring things out. They’ve done a lot of that growing thanks to Ja Morant.

Morant has demonstrated he’s the ultimate facilitator and his teammates have directly benefitted from his ability to draw attention from defenses all game long, which inevitably leaves his teammates open for easy shots.