Ja Morant went viral again after the Memphis Grizzlies were eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Grizzlies lost four straight games to OKC by an average of 19.5 points and now face a difficult offseason with plenty of questions to answer.
Yet, Morant dared to say that he had the Thunder “figured out” and would’ve won the series if not for his injury midway through Game 3.
He has received plenty of backlash in NBA circles, with Chris Broussard the latest to chime in while also making an interesting point about the Hall of Fame.
Morant has been an excellent player throughout the first six seasons of his NBA career, but he’s often been embroiled in controversies, both major and minor.
So, even though his physicality and skillset are both world-class, many people doubt whether he has the mentality to lead a team to a championship.
Broussard is the latest basketball expert to blast Morant for his latest “ridiculous” comment, as well as sharing his wider concerns about him failing to fulfill his “Hall of Fame” potential.
“Oh my gosh,” Broussard said. “Despite all that he’s done off the court, I like Ja. I want Ja to reach his potential, but the more he says and does, the less I think he’s ever going to. And his potential… he may end up being a Hall of Famer.
“We’ve seen Gilbert Arenas and guys have these fantastic starts to their careers, and then kind of fizzle away. Steve Francis had a Hall of Fame start to his career.
“This is asinine. Ja, you were there for the 51-point loss. You were there for the 19-point loss in Game 2. Why did it take so long [to figure them out]? Did you not study them before the season began? I get it, you had the Play-In and all that, but you also played them twice in the regular season.
“I’m not even counting the game where he got hurt; he was 0-4 against in the regular season and playoffs against OKC. They lost by 25 points on average. The closest game was 13 points. Ja averaged 19 points on 38 per cent shooting in those games. You figured them out. What? Come on, man, this is ridiculous.”
The Grizzlies find themselves in arguably the worst situation for an NBA team: mediocrity. The roster neither has the current ability nor the potential ability to contend for a championship.
Now, some organizations are happy to just make the playoffs each season and stay somewhat relevant without ever threatening to win it all.
However, the teams that really care about winning make the necessary moves to get better, either in the short or long term.
For the Grizzlies, who don’t even own their first-round pick this year, they should look to enter a full rebuild.
Especially with backup point guard Scotty Pippen Jr impressing in the OKC series, Morant is probably worth putting on the trade block first.
