I was going to do a big mid season NBA redo, like I do every year, but I want to wait for Monday to do that. I really want to pore over that, and really dig deep. When I do my redo's, I also like to really pore over each team. Take a real deep dive if you will. With that being said, I do want to talk about one player this year that has been very good very fast. That player you ask, it is Ja Morant.

Earlier this year, before the NBA season started, I decided to change my allegiance yet again, it has been so hard to stick with one team since the Sonics left Seattle. But I decided I was going to stand by the Memphis Grizzlies. I have, full stop, thrown my hat into their ring. They are my NBA team now, and there is a plethora of reasons. It is the closest city to Saint Louis with a pro basketball team. I love the city of Memphis. They have the best BBQ and music.

If you all remember my pre draft ranking, I had Morant as my number one overall prospect. I have believed in this kid from the first moment I saw him jam on some dudes while he was at Murray State. So, when the Grizzlies secured the second pick in the lottery, and Morant was the clear choice there, it made my decision to back the Grizzlies even easier. And watching this kid play half of this season has been an absolute wonder. He is a whiz with the basketball. He has very solid handles already, and runs that team like he has been in the league for five or six years already. His passing is insane. The other night I watched him on League Pass make two passes that reminded me of Magic Johnson. It is almost as if he has eyes in the back of his head. He found guys cutting to the basket that I think only he knew were open. Sure, Luka Doncic, rightfully so, gets a ton of hype and airtime for what he does, and Russ is a triple double machine and LeBron has been doing this for years, but there is something so enticing, for me, watching Morant do what he does. He has flair and an arrogance and a cockiness and a gravity that just draws me in. For example, the other night when he hit those threes on Harden, and said, sorry mom and dad, "tell that mother fucker about me", I grew to like him even more. He is not even close to Harden's level as a scorer, and may never get there. But, he wasn't going to let Harden punk him by playing no defense and giving him a WIDE open three. It shows that he is becoming more and more confident in his jump shot, the biggest knock on him pre draft, and that he is making them now. It also shows that he isn't scared of anyone in the league. He made it there, and he feels like he belongs, and he sure as hell does.

Above all though, it is his pure athleticism that makes him my favorite player in the league at the moment. I was a KD guy for awhile, I loved Shawn Kemp and Kevin Garnett growing up, and Charles Barkley is my favorite player of all time. But, Ja has me rethinking my whole past, of being a power/small forward guy, to being a point guard guy. Along with Ja, I enjoy watching Doncic and Devin Booker and Brad Beal and Eric Bledose and Jimmy Butler. Most of those guys, if not all, are guards. But none of them do to me what Morant does as a basketball fan. And when he went up to try and dunk on Kevin Love earlier this year, I mean, he didn't even make the dunk, but it was still a top highlight. The fact that a skinny, 6 foot something guard went to dunk on a 6 foot 10 inch center, you have to respect the moxie. I personally loved it. I mean, had he made the dunk, it would've been the highlight of the year, full stop. And still, he has already dunked on a ton of dudes in his half of a pro career at the moment, and that list is only going to continue to grow the older, and better he gets. Ja Morant has been everything I expected, and so, so much more. He is fun, easy to root for, clearly loves the game, and has shown that he is putting in the work to be a star in this league. I cannot wait to continue to watch him, to see him live and to pat myself on the back when he walks away with the Rookie of the Year award this season. Hell, he may be an All Star this year before the voting is all said and done.

Ja Morant is amazing, and I am so glad that he plays for my new, official favorite team in the NBA. He is a true wunderkind.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet. 

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