Memphis Grizzlies Playbook: Ja Morant hoops in Munford, plus Tyus Jones makes underrated list

Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant dunks on Draymond Green in NBA 2k23

Welcome to the second edition of the Memphis Grizzlies Playbook, a weekly column penned by our Site Expert, Jacob Ellerbee. We hope you enjoyed last week’s inaugural edition and that you keep coming back each week.

We’ve got some interesting tidbits to share with you all, so please enjoy and be sure to follow us on Twitter at @BealeStBearsFS and @jellerbee.

Let’s dive in!

Ja Morant hoops in Munford, Tenn.

Thanks to David Perry Jr., the Sports Editor for the Dyserbburg State Gazette, for pointing out that Ja Morant stopped by a local basketball camp being held in Munford, Tennessee last week.

Munford, situated about 25 miles north of Memphis, is a small town of about 6,300 people— which would maybe be enough to fill one-third of the FedEx Forum, where the Grizzlies play their home games in downtown Memphis.

https://twitter.com/dapjr7/status/1552420412994248705?s=21&t=Z0enDugqErQgekRK9qP2UQ

Former Munford High School and Murray State standout Jonathan Stark hosted a Skills Academy and apparently invited former Racer Ja Morant to stop by and show off and inspire some young hoopers.

One of the biggest and brightest stars in the NBA is spending his free time at a basketball camp in a teeny, tiny west Tennessee town. If there’s a hoop and there are people, Morant will come.

Just like we saw during Summer League, Morant was not out vacationing or living it up celebrating his new max contract, he was soaking up all the basketball he can get.

Meet Reed Chapman, our newest Contributor

Please join me in welcoming the newest contributor to Beale Street Bears, Reed Chapman!

Reed is majoring in communications and has plans for a career in sports media when he’s finished with his degree.

He’s got a passion for the Memphis Grizzlies and he loves writing, so we’re excited to have him on our team.

Check out his very first article for us in which he explores who might fill the massive void left by De’Anthony Melton during the upcoming 2022-23 season.

Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter as well, @Reed_Chapman11.

Tyus Jones appears on underrated players list

Monte Poole of NBC Sports has culled together a list of the five most underrated players in the NBA entering the 2022-23 season.

To the surprise of no Grizzlies fan, Tyus Jones makes this list. It’s awesome to see the former Duke product get the love he deserves and even better to see the writer call him “the best backup PG in the league.”

In alphabetical order, Poole lists Seth Curry, Richard Holmes, Kevon Looney, and Jarred Vanderbilt along with Jones in his list.

Can’t argue with that list— all five are key cogs on their respective teams and don’t get nearly enough love.

Ja Morant dunks on Draymond Green in NBA 2k23 trailer

There are few things better than pulling one over on the Golden State Warriors. Fortunately, Grizzlies fan got exactly that this past week when Ja Morant posterized Draymond Green. Ok, it was actually in the trailer of the upcoming video game NBA 2k23, but still. It’s awesome.

Each year, NBA 2K continues to up their game with photorealistic graphics and mannerisms that mimic their real-life counterparts. This year’s edition is no exception.

A lot of fans were predicting that Morant might grace the cover of the video game, but that dind’t happen. Maybe next year?

You can watch the full trailer for the upcoming video game here.

Fact Forum

$275 million— that’s the amount of money in contracts Memphis Grizzlies GM Zach Kleiman has spent in current and future contracts so far this offseason, per Spotrac.

Ja Morant takes up the bulk of it at $192.9 million (5 years), followed by Tyus Jones with $29 million (2 years), John Konchar with $19 million (3 years), Jake LaRavia clocks in at $14.76 million (4 years), David Roddy at $12.99 million (4 years), Kennedy Chandler at $7.13 million (4 years).

We don’t have stats or figures on the two-way contracts for Vincent Williams Jr. or Kenneth Lofton Jr.