Following the Memphis Grizzlies' sweep of the San Antonio Spurs in their back-to-back set in San Antonio, the team returns home for a four-game homestand. After being the talk of the NBA world after his dunk on Victor Wembanyama on January 15th, Ja Morant missed the Grizzlies' second game against the Spurs with foot soreness.
Following their first win against the Spurs, Ja Morant was listed as questionable on the injury report the day after. Coach Taylor Jenkins mentioned during their January 17th pregame that he was trending toward being out.
He described it as a foot sprain that Ja had been dealing with since he returned from another injury against the Houston Rockets on January 9th and tweaked it during their first game against the San Antonio Spurs. After missing Memphis' latest game, Ja Morant's missed games this season reached 18, which puts him out of the running for some of the NBA's biggest recognitions.
Ja Morant is ineligible for NBA Awards and All-NBA honors
Before the 2023-24 season, the NBA created a 65-game rule that required players to appear in at least 65 games and play at least 20 minutes per game to be eligible for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player, All-NBA teams, and All-Defensive teams. The award exceptions to that rule are the Rookie of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, and All-Rookie honors.
With the constant talk of NBA ratings being down, this rule was introduced to motivate players to play often as load management had come to be at an all-time high. However, it hurts players like Ja Morant who has missed all of his games this season due to a plethora of injuries.
He missed one game due to thigh soreness, eight games due to hip subluxation and pelvic muscle strains, one game due to a knee contusion, two games due to back soreness, five games due to an AC joint sprain, and his most recent with the foot sprain. Injury luck hasn't been on his side this season but nothing long-term, which is most important to him and the team.
The rule exceptions help his teammates as Zach Edey has missed 14 games but would still be eligible for the Rookie of the Year award if he misses more than 17 games. As unfortunate as this rule is for Ja Morant this season he wasn't in the running for an award to this point, so an outside shot at an All-NBA team is what he will miss.
However, making the All-Star team is still in play and his consistent availability as the season gets closer to the playoffs is what he and the team care about the most as winning an NBA championship is the ultimate goal for all parties.