Things can change rapidly within a single NBA season, and the Memphis Grizzlies are a prime example of that. After making it to the Western Conference semifinals last season, the Grizzlies entered the current campaign with some lofty expectations and a potential MVP candidate in Ja Morant, who was named the league’s Most Improved Player last year.
The season started off well enough for the Grizzlies. They won 31 of their first 44 games and held the top spot in the Western Conference standings for a brief period during December. But then Morant uttered the now infamous “fine in the West” statement in an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews, and both the player and the team have been in a tailspin since.
Memphis, currently in the midst of a three-game losing streak, lost eight of nine games during a stretch that bled over from January into February, and dropped in the standings as a result. They’ve gone just 8-13 overall since that 31-13 start, and they currently sit third with just a two-game lead over the fourth-place Phoenix Suns.
The Grizzlies recently lost forward Brandon Clarke for the remainder of the season due to an Achilles injury and big man Steven Adams is out for at least another four weeks after missing the past month with a knee sprain. Those are two enormous pieces of their frontcourt rotation, and those absences will surely test the team’s depth.
They’re also without Morant for an indefinite amount of time after he was seen apparently brandishing a gun at a club in a video shared to social media. The situation — the culmination of a string of recent incidents involving Morant — has cast a pall over the entire organization.
Morant will miss a minimum of six games as a result of his actions — six crucial games during the stretch run of the season while the Grizzlies are in the midst of a fight for playoff position — and it has completely shifted the conversation around the team from on the court to off of it. To say that the ordeal isn’t ideal for team morale would be a pretty serious understatement.
Even…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/grizzlies-rapidly-transform-from-contender-to-question-mark-amid-ja-morant-drama/
Author : Michael Kaskey-Blomain
Publish date : 2023-03-09 23:22:32
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