Stephen A. Smith and Shannon Sharpe believe Ja Morant’s return to the Memphis Grizzlies is just as important for the Grizzlies as it is the NBA.
Morant will make his season debut Tuesday (6:30 p.m., TNT) as the Grizzlies (6-19) play their first nationally televised game of the season at the New Orleans Pelicans (16-11).
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“So, with Ja Morant coming back, Draymond Green going through what he’s going through, where the plethora of others finding themselves in precarious situations, I just want to take a moment to remind people, you’re here for that bag,” Smith said during a near four-minute monologue Tuesday about the bigger picture of Morant’s return on his show, First Take.
“You want to play exceptional but you also want that bag. Don’t let anybody get in the way of that.”
Morant returns to the Grizzlies after serving a 25-game suspension to start the 2023-24 season after brandishing a gun in an Instagram Live video in May. He was suspended nine games after a similar video surfaced on Instagram in March. Morant was allowed to practice with the team during his suspension.
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The Grizzlies have struggled during Morant’s absence and have been hampered with injuries. Marcus Smart and Derrick Rose, two offseason acquisitions, have appeared in just 11 games and 15 games, respectively.
“I believe now, having to sit down for 25 games, have something taken away from you that you love, that you’ve worked your entire life to get in to, I believe (he’s learned his lesson),” Sharpe added during the segment.
“The No. 1 apology is changed behavior.”
In the final game of Morant’s suspension, the Thunder crushed the Grizzlies 116-97 on Monday night in Oklahoma City. Morant will make his FedExForum debut Thursday when the Grizzlies host the Indiana Pacers.
What Skip Bayless said about Ja Morant return from suspension
Skip Bayless added during his show, “Undisputed,” on Tuesday morning that he’s excited to watch Morant’s debut on TNT.
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“(The Grizzlies) have been a disaster without him, again, 6-19, they’re way out of the playoffs,” Bayless said. “I believe Ja is so gifted that he will come back with hair on fire. I think he will lift them and I think this will be a great challenge for him to lift them into the bottom of the playoffs.”
What Ja Morant said about suspension
Last week, Morant expressed “guilt” as the Grizzlies struggling season because of his off-the-court actions that led to his 25-game suspension by the NBA.
“I can’t make nobody believe me outside of my actions,” Morant said in his first public comments since his suspension. “Me answering this question with just words probably won’t mean nothing to nobody.”
Last season, Morant averaged 26.2 points and 8.1 assists in 61 games.
“I believe hopefully Ja has learned his lesson,” Sharpe said. “He comes back and be the Ja that we remember since he entered into the league and he has an illustrious career and we look back and say this was a blip on the screen.”
Reach Wynston Wilcox at [email protected] and on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter, @wynstonw__.
Source: https://t-tees.com
Category: WHEN
