The only one thing that’s held Ja Morant back from consistently being one of the NBA’s top superstars in recent seasons: Injuries.
Morant played in just nine games in the 2023-24 season, with the Grizzlies then finishing the season with a 27-55 record. In the 2024-25 season, Morant was getting back in his groove — but now, he’s once again dealing with an injury.
In Friday’s game against the Pelicans, Morant exited after taking a hard hit on a screen, and the Grizzlies provided an update on his status Monday.
Here’s what to know about Morant’s injury, as well as how much time the Murray State product is set to miss for Memphis.
MORE: What Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had to say about Grizzlies’ Yuki Kawamura
What is Ja Morant’s injury?
Morant is out with a Grade 1 AC joint sprain, the Grizzlies announced Monday.
The injury appeared to happen in the third quarter against New Orleans, when Pelicans center Daniel Theis set a screen then extended his arm on Morant as he fell to the floor.
Ja Morant takes a hard hit on the screen from Theis
Going back to the locker room holding his neck pic.twitter.com/itAqSGcQYr
— eric (@EricTweetsNBA) December 28, 2024
Morant missed the Grizzlies’ matchup against the Thunder on Sunday but still managed to get some shots up with a sling on:
Ja Morant still putting up shots despite the shoulder injury pic.twitter.com/FucHrGF6gL
— eric (@EricTweetsNBA) December 30, 2024
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How long is Ja Morant out?
The Grizzlies called Morant “week-to-week” with his shoulder injury.
Memphis faces some of the Western Conference’s most talented squads over the coming two weeks, including Phoenix, Golden State, Dallas, Houston and Minnesota.
The Grizzlies, currently the second seed in the conference, will look to avoid slipping down in the standings without their star guard.
Ja Morant 2024-25 stats
- Games: 20
- PPG: 21.2
- APG: 7.9
- RPG: 4.4
- SPG: 1.1
- BPG: 0.4
- FG%: 45.4%
- 3P%: 32.3%
- FT%: 83.8%
