Taylor Jenkins vouches for his guy, Ja Morant, to win league MVP this season over guys like Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, and Giannis.
Advertisement
Ja Morant plays the game in a way that we’ve never seen anyone do before him. Sure, explosive point guards aren’t anything new. Extremely rare, but not new as pre-injury Derrick Rose, 2010s Russell Westbrook, Baron Davis, amongst others, have had this style of play attached them.
However, what Morant is doing in terms of relentlessly attacking the rim and actually converting over guys that might have a foot over him is absolutely incredible. He averages 20.6 drives a game and puts up a league leading 16.8 points a game in the paint, ahead of guys like Giannis and LeBron James.
Moreover, with him getting better from beyond the arc this season, shooting a career high 34% from distance, guarding him has become nearly impossible.
This is exactly what happened tonight as Ja Morant dropped not only a career-high in regular season points, but a franchise high as well.
Ja Morant has his head coach, Taylor Jenkin’s, vote of confidence for league MVP.
After scoring 52 points in a blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs at home, the Memphis Grizzlies celebrated hard in their locker room, according to Drew Hill, music could be heard coming from the locker room and when head coach. Taylor Jenkins, came out for his postgame presser, he was soaked.
The partying and celebrations didn’t stop Jenkins from going all in on his All-Star point guard, claiming Ja Morant is the outright MVP this 2022 NBA season.
Taylor Jenkins: “I’m not the decision maker, but it’s pretty obvious to me that (Ja Morant) is the MVP.”
— Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) March 1, 2022
There certainly is a case for Ja Morant to be league MVP just as there is a case for DeMar DeRozan to be the MVP. The narrative this far into the season has become engulfed in the Embiid, Jokic, and Giannis hype and rightfully so.
However, with those 3 superstar big-men getting every last drop of the attention for league MVP, it’s extremely difficult to break through that.