HOW DOES A 6-foot-2 point guard whose self-described weight is “175 soaking wet” rank right up there with the NBA’s best big men in paint scoring?
“Because motherf—ers can’t stay in front of me,” Ja Morant told ESPN aftering pondering the question for about as long as it takes him to get from the 3-point line to the rim with a clear lane.
Morant laughs, but there is truth to his jest. The Memphis Grizzlies‘ 23-year-old superstar became the first guard to lead the league in points in the paint in at least 25 years last season, doing so with a repertoire of moves to get around, under and sometimes over even the tallest defenders in the league.
Morant’s blink-and-he’s-gone burst, ability to change directions at full speed and ballhandling skills are certainly significant factors in his interior scoring dominance. So are the bunny-like hops that allow him to occasionally dunk on 7-footers in traffic.
But it’s too simple to point only at the spectacular as an explanation for how one of the league’s smallest players routinely dominates where size and strength typically reign supreme.
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Consider one early November game, where on four separate plays, Morant displays the combination of explosiveness, finesse, feel and film study that makes him such a unique force in the paint.
“People look at that athletic stuff, but that happens once a game or once every two games,” Grizzlies shooting guard Desmond Bane said of Morant’s highlight-reel dunks and ahead of the team’s game against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday (8 p.m. ET on NBA TV).
“But he finishes with 26 points and 20 of them are in the paint, so it’s like, how the hell did he get the other 18?”
IN THE OPENING minute of the Grizzlies’ Nov. 11 home win against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Morant goes to work.
He uses a screen from bruising center Steven Adams — the NBA’s version of a run-blocking right tackle — near the left sideline about 30 feet from the basket. Anthony Edwards can’t work around it, giving Morant the opportunity to isolate against Rudy Gobert with a runway in front of him.
Morant stays in first gear as he dribbles slowly down the middle of the floor, seemingly waiting for the right split second to accelerate. Gobert tries to remain an arm’s length from Morant, but is most concerned about protecting the rim, aware of potential backdoor cuts for lobs or layups as well as the threat of Morant attacking.
“Obviously, he’s very athletic and a very crafty finisher, but he can really pass,” Gobert said. “The lob, the pass to the shooters — as a defense, when the guy who’s got the ball in his hands most of the time can find the open man, that’s what separates the good from the great.”
As Morant crosses the free throw line, Gobert gives just a little too much cushion. Morant leaps off two feet in front of the dotted line — going up, up, up — and releases a right-handed floater just above the three-time Defensive Player of the Year’s outstretched arm. Swish.