This Week In The NBA: Morant's Show by Shayne Williamson
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Ja Morant thinking about how he’s going to embarrass his opponent while dribbling up the floor (Brandon Dill/AP)
Hey now, we’re back in action! Welcome back to Morant’s Show, formerly known as This Week In the NBA, where I will intermittently update you on the madness of our great league in between Ja Morant highlights. “Why the gimmick change?” I hear you shouting at your computer/phone. Well, if this dude Ja is going to keep cranking out multiple highlights per game, I have no choice but to showcase his brilliance here. He’s forced my hand! So, without further ado…
Life Like A Video Game
Usually I would start a section in these with a witty or summarizing intro, show the gif highlighted in the section, then break the gif down. But I’m skipping the first and last part because quite frankly, the play speaks for itself.
Peep the Lou Will head nod after Ja massacred buddy. Game recognize game.
Byrie Back!
The NBA’s resident untucked jersey flat-earther Kyrie Irving made his return from a mysterious shoulder injury, a welcome sight for a Nets offense that had been one of the league’s worst in his absence. In his comeback game against the Hawks, Kyrie set the Barclays ablaze
A hesi-tween into a contested right handed runner high off the glass, taking the rookie DeAndre Hunter for a dance before floating a left-handed leaner over the big man, and the stop on a dime pull up jumper, Kyrie went to work like Atlanta was his 9–5. He finished with 21 points on 10–11 shooting in just 19 minutes of action. Hopefully Kyrie sticks with us for the rest of the season without injury.
Kyrie + Media = C’mon Man
With the positive Kyrie comes the negative Kyrie. You know how this works, it’s the balance of the most philosophical basketball player of our generation (surely don’t think I’m being serious here). After an 11 point loss to the 76ers, in which he shot 6–21 from the field (shoutout to Ben Simmons, who should be first team all-defense, and Matisse Thybulle, who should compete for second team all-defense), Kyrie said this in his post-game media scrum:
“We only have 6 good players, and one of them is hurt.”
Typically, it’s poor practice as a leader to call out over *half* of the roster essentially saying they’re not good enough to compete in public. No matter how true it may be. It rings awfully similar to the same finger pointing Irving engaged in Boston, a tendency that grew tired very quickly in that locker room.
Naturally for Kyrie, when the media began discussing the fact that he publicly threw over half the roster under the bus, he responded likewise:
Moving onto year 2.5 of this nonsense from Kyrie. Please brotha, get it together.
A Rant About the Media
After a segment where I (more-or-less) sided with the media, I gotta come back and restore balance to the Force. Look at this quote from ESPN’s most notable personality, Stephen A. Smith:
This is the most serious issue with how the NBA is covered in popular media nowadays. I get saying that the reigning MVP, and most dominant force in the NBA joining the NBA’s most recent dynasty will garner clicks and engagements. I really do. But Jesus Christ man, we have to do better. The Bucks are the best team in the league so far and should be regarded as the dominant title favorite they are in every conversation they, or anyone else Bucks-adjacent appears in. Instead, Bucks fans have to read and hear about their guy going somewhere else when he enters free agency. What? Do you see how twisted this is?
Maybe if our most relevant media members covering basketball actually talked about hoop as it is, instead of sensational, NBA 2K fantasy world garbage like this, casual fans would actually show interest in the regular season. This isn’t the only reason general enthusiasm for regular season basketball is down, but fans flipping to ESPN and seeing talk about where the leader of a 39–6 basketball team will play in 2021 plays a much bigger role than anyone is comfortable admitting. Do better.
And-1 Mixtape
When the Houston Rockets paid a visit to Memphis, Tennessee for the next game on their schedule, I bet they were expecting to play a regular basketball game that day. Silly them. Instead, they showed up to be the victim in Ja Morant’s And-1 mixtape.
Game, blouses. That boy cold.
Stay Mel00
After many people (including me, admittedly) wrote off Melo following subpar stints with both Oklahoma City and Houston, he’s proven that he’s still a viable NBA player with the Trail Blazers, providing 16 ppg and 6 boards per game on 47/37/83 shooting. During Portland’s road game against the Toronto Raptors, Melo came through for his team in the clutch.
Dribble to his spot, pull up, knockdown the jumper. *Michael Cole voice* Vintage Melo.
Literally. Melo hit a game winner from nearly the same spot in Toronto 10 years ago as a Denver Nugget.
Pretty awesome.
Russ’ Return to Oklahoma City
In one of the weirdest phenomenons I’ve ever seen, Russell Westbrook played a basketball game in Oklahoma City as a visitor. Of course I knew and even began to get familiar with Russ on the Rockets, but seeing the guy that embodied Thunder basketball for over a decade wearing red in an arena full of blue was very odd.
Before the game, OKC paid tribute to their MVP with this amazing video:
Spoiled Return
However, that was about where the fairytale return for Russ ended. From the tip, former Rocket CP3 and the Oklahoma City Thunder absolutely pantsed Russ’ Rockets. The whole game can be perfectly summed up in one play:
Splash Bros Love
This past weekend, Klay Thompson got his #1 jersey retired at his alma mater Washington State.
In support of his fellow Splash Bro, Steph Curry flew out to Pullman before heading back to the Bay for the Warriors game that night. In an interview during the Washington State game, Steph gave his backcourt partner just about the highest praise he could:
The league really isn’t the same without these two, I can’t wait until they’re back on the floor bombing 3s next year.
(The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson reported that Steph plans to return on March 1st to finish out the season, so the fun will start a bit early.)
Fear Factor
When you look among NBA players, all the way from the best in the world to reserves, most have a go to move they prefer to pull out of their bag. In the past few weeks, Ja’s go to move seems to be this in and out move while going downhill. It’s absolutely lethal once he gets a head of steam, violently shaking defenders out of their shoes. Patty Mills is his victim on this particularly play, may his ankles rest in peace.
(Not to overlook the silky left handed finish in traffic. Absurd.)
ZION BACK!!!!
Let’s dance!
Closing the Book
Devin Booker, should be All-Star, has been an offensive menace this year along with being one of the more clutch players in the association. Those two traits intertwined in the Suns clash against the Magic when Booker did this on back to back possessions:
That’s how you close the book on a W.
Quick Hitters
All Star game PSA: I have an announcement to make. If you believe that Trae Young (29/5/9), Devin Booker (27/4/6), Brandon Ingram (26/7/4), and Zach LaVine (25/5/4) should be left off of the All Star team because their teams are below .500, you’re a nerd. Please rescind your view of this article, I don’t want it. The ASG is about having the best, most exciting players in the league and those three deserve to be there.
Specifically for your Trae Young consideration, look at this stat (which will also double as our WTF Stat of the Week):
He generates great looks for his teammates, they just suck. Wait until Atlanta puts a real supporting cast around him.
Michael Porter Jr, a former top recruit who lost most of his freshman year and all of his rookie year to back issues, has showed out for the Denver Nuggets when Mike Malone has given him minutes. Some of his most notable performances include 25/5/1 on 11/12 shooting (2/3 from 3) in 22 minutes vs the Pacers, 20/14/4 on 7/12 shooting (4/8 from 3) in 29 minutes vs the Timberwolves, and 18/10/5/2/1 on 6/10 shooting (3/3 from 3) in 29 minutes vs the Warriors. If he can sustain this production and efficiency throughout the year, the Nuggets will have another dangerous dimension offensively come playoff time.
Joel Embiid is out indefinitely after undergoing finger surgery. Ben Simmons, who everyone under the sun tries to trade 50 billion times a day, has responded likewise: 21.7/10.2/8.2/2.1 (PPG/RPG/APG/SPG) with 7 double-doubles and 2 triple-doubles. The Sixers are 5–2 without Embiid. Not too shabby.
Another team that’s lost a star, the Los Angeles Lakers lost Anthony Davis to a back bruise against the Knicks. He missed 5 games, in which the Lakers went 4–1. The 1 loss came by way of a Markelle Fultz clinic, as he dropped a triple double in Staples and went toe to toe with LeBron James in the clutch.
Shoutout to Lonzo Ball, who has struggled to find his footing in the league while dealing inconsistent roles and injuries. Since December 29th, Zo has averaged 16/8/9/1/1 while shooting 38% from 3, seemingly turning a corner in his career. Hopefully he’s able to sustain this level of play as the Pelicans push for a playoff spot.
The Utah Jazz! They’ve quietly mixed elite three point shooting and defense to win a whopping 18 of their last 20 games, to leap all the way to 2nd in the Western conference. Big turnaround for a squad that struggled early on in the season.
