Ahead of the 2022-23 season, Ja Morant was ranked as the 9th-best player in the NBA according to ESPN's player rankings. Three seasons have passed since that ranking, and Morant has become mostly an afterthought when talking about the best players in the NBA due to self-inflicted wounds and unfortunate injury luck.
At age 22, Morant had the best season of his NBA career during the 2021-22 season, averaging 27.4 points on 49.3% shooting, including 34.4% from three. He also finished seventh in the MVP voting, won the NBA's Most Improved Player award, made his first All-Star team, and led the Memphis Grizzlies to the second round of the NBA playoffs before losing to the eventual champion Golden State Warriors that year.
With all the hype of becoming the next face of the league heading into the 2022-23 season, Morant had a fall many people didn't see coming, which leads to an important season coming up for the Grizzlies' superstar.
Morant was listed as a star player under the most pressure entering this season
Alex Speers of The Athletic NBA Daily podcast mentioned Ja Morant as his pick for star player under the most pressure this season. Morant is entering his prime years at age 26 this season and appears to be the happiest he has been since the end of the season that had many touting him as the next great player.
However, his scoring averages have dwindled every season from 26.2 (2023) to 25.1 (2024) to 23.2 points last season. However, he showed flashes of the player who was in the MVP race three seasons ago after the All-Star break last season, when he averaged 27.6 points, including a streak of 17 straight games scoring at least 20 points to end the regular season.
Unfortunately, the story of Morant's fall from stardom over the last couple of seasons hindered his season throughout, and ultimately ended it. He battled numerous injuries throughout last season, most notably his shoulder, but suffered an ankle injury in the Grizzlies' first play-in tournament game against the Warriors.
That injury hurt the team's chances of winning and securing the seventh seed in the playoffs. His season ended with a hip injury in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series against the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder. That followed a season where he only played nine games due to a 25-game suspension and a season-ending torn labrum injury.
The Grizzlies have low expectations entering this season (fair or not), mostly due to his unknown status to remain healthy for a team that will need him more than ever after trading Desmond Bane. Entering his prime years, it's time for Morant to consistently return to the level of player the world knows he can be for his and the Grizzlies' sake this season.