NEWSLETTER
On Monday night, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Ja Morant officially took home the NBA’s 2021-22 Most Improved Player award.
Morant – who averaged 27.4 points per game with 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds – came off as a somewhat surprising pick. While there is no questioning the No. 2-overall pick in the 2019 draft took a leap from one year to the next, he was already pretty darn good as the best player on a playoff-bound Grizzlies team last season. Not to mention, the expectations were always there for Morant to take that very leap, whereas candidates like Dejounte Murray, Darius Garland, Jordan Poole, and Desmond Bane seemed to shock the NBA world more with their breakout seasons.
Morant must have immediately agreed with that sentiment because the award quickly ended up in somebody else’s hands. Bane, Morant’s backcourt partner in crime and 5th-place finisher, walked into his kitchen to find the trophy waiting for him.
I got to admit, it’s a pretty cool moment.
https://twitter.com/DBane0625/status/1518746842464411650?s=20&t=ycEh6zBS1nvNOWQWqkX0dw
Morant shared a photo on his Instagram story of the delievered package, telling Bane “you deserve it killa”
https://twitter.com/JaMorant/status/1518746333334626305?s=20&t=ycEh6zBS1nvNOWQWqkX0dw
Doesn’t that just make you feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside?
You know, when you forget that Matt Thomas was totally snubbed!! At least Ayo Dosunmu won rookie of the year, right?
