Ja Morant

Temetrius Jamel "Ja" Morant ( ; born August 10, 1999) is an American professional basketball player for the Memphis Grizzlies of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Murray State Racers, where he was a consensus first-team All-American as a sophomore in 2019. Morant was only lightly recruited by NCAA Division I programs and unranked by recruiting services, despite having been named All-Region Most Valuable Player three times and earning All-State honors at Crestwood High School in Sumter, South Carolina. Nevertheless, he made an immediate impact at Murray State University, earning first-team all-conference honors in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) as a freshman. He had a breakout sophomore season; it saw him win OVC Player of the Year as well as lead the NCAA in assists. As a sophomore, Morant became the first player in NCAA history to average 20-plus points and 10-plus assists per game for a single season. Morant was selected by the Grizzlies with the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft, and was named the NBA Rookie of the Year in 2020. In 2022, he was named to his first NBA All-Star Game as a starter. At the conclusion of the season, Morant won the NBA Most Improved Player Award, and he was also selected to his first All-NBA Team. Early life and high school career Morant was born in Dalzell, South Carolina, to Tee and Jamie Morant. His mother, Jamie, was a point guard in high school and a softball player in college, while his father was a high school teammate of Ray Allen and played basketball for Claflin University. After playing semi-professionally, Tee considered playing professional basketball overseas, but when Jamie became pregnant with Ja, he abandoned his basketball career and stayed at home, becoming a barber instead.