NEW ORLEANS — Hollywood’s best writers couldn’t have scripted what was going to happen in New Orleans on Tuesday night at the Smoothie King Center.
Ja Morant, one of the NBA’s young stars, was making his season debut after a 25-game suspension. A mixture of cheers and boos during lineup introductions had drastically shifted to loud boos when he first touched the ball on the Memphis Grizzlies’ opening possession.
Two and a half hours later, the boos turned into complete silence as an audible gasp was let out through the arena when Morant drove to the basket, spun to his right and made a floater over the outstretched arms of New Orleans Pelicans defensive standout Herb Jones at the buzzer to lead Memphis to a 115-113 victory.
‘You see where that got them,’ Morant said of the boos after the game.
The Grizzlies (7-19) trailed by as many as 24 points. Memphis players, who before the game were comparing Morant’s return to the start of a new season, rushed to the two-time all-star guard after his made basket, then the team carried the party into the locker room.
Coaches and teammates surrounded Morant as the celebration unfolded. Morant’s message in the locker room was simple: ‘I’m back.’
‘From the coach down to last guy, we was hype,’ Xavier Tillman Sr. said. ‘ We were screaming and shouting. (Morant) lucky we didn’t throw no water on him.’
When Morant entered the arena two hours before the game, he came in a charcoal Nike tech with the hoodie covering his head. To his side was Derrick Rose, who was once the young electrifying superstar guard in the NBA and is now Morant’s veteran teammate that he leans on for advice.
‘Damn,’ Rose said as cameras surrounded him and Morant.
Morant didn’t say anything, but his play spoke volumes after finishing with 34 points, eight assists and six rebounds.
‘I’ve prepping for this for almost eight months,’ Morant said.
Why the boos?
Morant was confused. Each of his first few touches of the game were followed by loud boos from the New Orleans crowd.
‘I don’t know the reason, I don’t know what I did to the Pelicans or they fans, but they got to root for they team, so it’s all good,’ Morant said.
The Pelicans (16-12) are a division rival, but Morant hasn’t been booed like that in New Orleans before. As one Pelicans fan put it, the reaction wasn’t out of hate.
‘They were disappointed in his behavior,’ Pelicans fan Ronald Smith said. ‘I don’t think they dislike him. You the biggest thing in Memphis. Behave.’
Selfless superstar
Morant sat on the bench with massage guns on his calves during the final timeout. The game was tied 113-113 with 9.6 seconds remaining. Playing 35 minutes in his first game back had taken a toll on Morant. So much of a toll that he was willing to give the final shot up to Jaren Jackson Jr., who finished with 24 points and also had a dominant fourth quarter.
But Desmond Bane wouldn’t allow it. He wouldn’t let Morant defer to his teammate after the point guard had scored the previous two baskets.
‘If you need space and if you ain’t got it, throw it to me and I’ll shoot it,’ Bane said. ‘Other than that, go score the ball. Go win the game.’
The moment isn’t about hierarchy. It highlights the trust and selflessness that the players have in each other. Along with Morant and Jackson’s big scoring nights, Bane finished with 21 points.
Poetic finish
When Morant made the final floater to end the game, he stood almost directly in front of his father Tee Morant and several of his closest friends and family members. Ironically, the celebration was happening at 9:01 p.m., which is the area code of Memphis.
‘You can’t write it,’ Tillman said.
But the bigger irony was the moment that followed. Morant embraced with his people following the game-winner. The same people who challenged him privately to be a better version of himself over the past eight months.
The accountability didn’t end there. It came from teammates like Bane, who challenged Morant to rebound better earlier in the game. On Tuesday, Morant accepted the challenge.
His 34 points was the most by a player in NBA history returning from an absence of at least 25 games.
‘I feel like it was the perfect ending, perfect day,’ Morant said.