The Memphis Grizzlies dropped to 3-3 on the season with a 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Saturday night in their first NBA Cup group stage game, and coming out of the loss much of the focus was on Ja Morant’s rough night.
The All-Star guard finished the game with eight points and seven assists in 31 minutes. He went just 3-of-14 from the field and was a complete non-factor down the stretch. After the game, Morant was asked about his performance and what could’ve gone better for him. He told reporters multiple times to “go ask the coaching staff.” When asked how the Grizzlies could’ve gotten a different outcome, Morant said “according to them, probably don’t play me, honestly. That’s what basically the message was. It’s cool.”
There has never been a less convincing delivery of “it’s cool” in history than Morant gives here, as he is clearly extremely frustrated with the coaches.
It wasn’t just that Morant had a rough shooting night, it was the lack of effort from a player known for bringing energy to the floor that was most concerning for Grizzlies fans. It was noticeable enough that Blake Griffin called it out on the Amazon postgame show.
The Grizzlies fired Taylor Jenkins as coach at the end of last season, turning things over to Tuomas Iisalo, which was notable after Jenkins shifted to an offensive scheme early last season that went away from Morant’s preferred style. After trading Desmond Bane this summer, it seemed like they were once again going to put the focus again on Morant as the offensive engine, but that’s clearly not going according to plan for any of the parties involved.
At 3-3, it’s not been a disastrous start to the season, but the Grizzlies’ three wins have all come against some of the league’s worst teams early — the Phoenix Suns, Indiana Pacers and New Orleans Pelicans. Against playoff caliber teams, they’ve been outclassed and if Iisalo and the staff were trying to set the tone by being hard on their star player, it doesn’t seem to be well received by Morant, who seems to feel isolated and unwanted at the moment. That’s not a great place to be as a new coaching staff, and Morant’s comments Friday night will undoubtedly catch the attention of teams around the league who will be monitoring whether those frustrations fade or build.
