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Jamaaliver wrote:Ja seems like a lock to make the team. And, in all honesty, deserves to start more than Luka this year.

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SD2042 wrote:The last thing the Grizzlies and Ja wants is to become so injury prone so much that he damages his career in the process. Play smart and continue the road to superstardom as plan.

Jamaaliver wrote:

SD2042 wrote:The last thing the Grizzlies and Ja wants is to become so injury prone so much that he damages his career in the process. Play smart and continue the road to superstardom as plan.

JM does seem to play with reckless abandon...for better and for worse.

I see him frequently being in the MVP conversation when healthy, though. Even more frequently than a guy like Trae Young whose production may be greater but whose efficiency numbers will usually be lower due to a diet of long threes and contested floaters.

VCfor3 wrote:

Jamaaliver wrote:

SD2042 wrote:The last thing the Grizzlies and Ja wants is to become so injury prone so much that he damages his career in the process. Play smart and continue the road to superstardom as plan.

JM does seem to play with reckless abandon...for better and for worse.

I see him frequently being in the MVP conversation when healthy, though. Even more frequently than a guy like Trae Young whose production may be greater but whose efficiency numbers will usually be lower due to a diet of long threes and contested floaters.

Ja's electrifying athletic plays will also help the narrative around him relative to Trae. Both are good but just play different styles. Anytime Trae is in the Garden though is must watch tv the rest of his career ha.

Ja definitely has times playing with reckless abandon, but he has gotten significantly better with his landing relative to his rookie year. Problem is he is bumped a lot and those are what have generally lead to the bad falls of late.

Ja Morant vs Luka Doncic is shaping up to be a Western Conference point guard rivalry



The differences between Luka Doncic and Ja Morant are so noticeable that it's easy to overlook the similarities.

Both players excel at getting to and finishing around the rim. Doncic is a bigger point guard for the Dallas Mavericks who thrives with elite shiftiness and a 6-foot-7 bulky frame that allows him to bully smaller players and yell, “He’s too small.” as he is known to say.

Morant is a slim 6-foot-3 and is one of the NBA's fastest and most explosive point guards. His stop-and-start ability keeps defenders off balance, and he can often just rise above them with his leaping ability for the Memphis Grizzlies.

Both star point guards were heralded as franchise cornerstones before turning pro, but neither was the No. 1 pick. Doncic went third in the 2018 NBA Draft behind Deandre Ayton (Phoenix) and Marvin Bagley (Sacramento). Morant was picked second in 2019 after Zion Williamson (New Orleans).

Then there’s the fandom. Doncic is already an NBA All-Star and was second behind Stephen Curry among Western Conference guards in the NBA’s first fan voting update. Morant was third. A week later, Morant won his second player of the week award this season and passed Doncic in fan voting. Doncic said Morant deserved all the attention he was getting with passing the Mavs star in the All-Star voting.

This isn’t a rivalry yet. Not enough has happened for that to be the case, but get used to seeing two of the league’s premier point guards battle for Western Conference supremacy.

Six point guards were among the top 10 of all-star voting for Western Conference guards. Morant and Doncic are both 22, and the other four top vote-getters were 31 and above.

VCfor3 wrote:

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A very decisive victory for Ja. 2nd in all three categories. Pretty cool for a small market (also Ja with more fan votes than Wiggins).

Jamaaliver wrote:That ATL - Memphis connection is strong:

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The dirty duo doing work...