Ja Morant returned to the court on Monday night, and both he and the Memphis Grizzlies appear content to just move on.
Morant dropped 18 points in the Grizzlies’ 114-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons at FedEx Forum, marking his first game back after for conduct detrimental to the team. That incident occurred on Friday in their loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, in which Morant appeared to be feuding with head coach Tuomas Iisalo while giving minimal effort on the court.
Morant, according to The Associated Press, was in the team’s locker room before Monday’s game but just ignored questions from reporters. He then got dressed and left to go warm up without saying a word.
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The Grizzlies announced Morant’s suspension on Saturday, and he served it in their loss to the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. He had eight points in Friday’s loss to the Lakers, and seemed uninterested in the contest during the second half. He and Iisalo then got into an exchange after the game when Iisalo questioned his leadership and effort, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Morant then largely shut down when speaking to reporters after that contest, and just repeatedly told them to “go ask the coaching staff.”
“Go ask him [Iisalo],” he said. “They had a whole spiel in here, so … According to them, probably don’t play me, honestly. That’s what basically the message was, so … it’s cool.”
This is just the latest issue that Morant has faced in recent years. He was suspended over multiple gun-related incidents, and then for whipping out a finger-gun celebration. Morant averaged 23.3 points and 7.3 assists in 50 games last season after he returned from a shoulder injury.
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Iisalo is in his first season as the team’s head coach this fall after last year. The loss on Monday was their third straight and dropped them to 3-5 on the year. They’ll take on the Houston Rockets next on Wednesday.
While Morant and Iisalo clearly don’t have the best working relationship, both sides are apparently content to just put this incident behind them and move forward. Whether that can last, and the team can start winning again and make a meaningful postseason run, remains to be seen.
