After returning from a 25-game NBA sentence, JA Morant silenced skeptics with a remarkable performance.
On Tuesday night, the 24-year-old Memphis Grizzlies star completed an amazing comeback with a buzzer-beаter against the New Orleans Pelicans.
3Ja Morant returned from a 25-game ban with style.Credit: Reuters
3Memphis Grizzlies standout led 26-point rally over New Orleans Pelicans.Credit: Getty
3TNT SPORTS Morant scored 34 points and made his first buzzer-beаter.Morant played in his first game since a season-ending defeat to the Lakers on April 28.Two-time All-Star scored 34 points to lead his club to a tҺrilling road victory of 115-113.Memphis trailed 19 points at halftime after two error-filled quarters.Morant led the comeback after the restart.
Besides scoring, the 24-year-old had eight assists and six rebounds in 35 minutes.
He completed his comeback with a beautiful layup as time expired, scoring his first buzzer-beаter.
The NBA suspended Morant for 25 games for “conduct detrimental to the league,” according Commercial Appeal.
A May 14 Instagram live video showed the Grizzlies star brandishing a pistol.
After wielding a pistol at a nightclub in March, the Grizzlies banned Morant for eight games.Morant was happy to return to the court after eight months.He told NBA on TNT after the win: “I’m a hound. Man has been worked on.”After eight months without playing, I had time to study. “A lot of hard days where I went through it but basketball is my life, what I love, therapeutic to me and I’m just excited to be back.”Morant also thanked his Grizzlies teammates for their support.He said: “My brothers, my boys. We worked together.Practices are tough. Light habits. Treatment. Flights. We spend much of time together. I’ve benefited much from their assistance. “Just saying positive things, telling me to stay true, keep working and they showed right there with them believing in me and it shows how excited everybody else is for me to be back.”The Grizzlies are 7-19 after Morant’s ban, after going 6-19.Morant’s influence on his long-awaited comeback delighted fans.NBA fan on X (previously Twitter) posted “Morant Legacy Game.”One said: “Everyone who hated on him switching sides [right now].””
No debate, Ja is a top 10 player in the world,” a third said.4: “Basketball is better with Ja playing,”