A lot of things changed for Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies since he made the comment about being “fine in the West” back in December. Other than what went down with him individually, his team is now out of the Playoffs.
Advertisement
The second seed of the West lost to the 7th seed, the Los Angeles Lakers, in 6 games in ROUND 1. It was not just Ja whose challenge to the whole Western Conference fired back, there were some other Grizzlies players as well, who talked a lot of smack but were unable to back it up.
However, it was majorly Morant and Dillon Brooks who caught the ire of the fans and the experts alike.
Kendrick Perkins and Shannon Sharpe Mock Ja Morant and the Grizzlies for “Fine in the West comment”
Nobody in the NBA community forgets when somebody makes as big a claim as they aren’t concerned about the proven superstars of the West like LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, and so on and so forth.
And so the analysts, Kendrick Perkins of ESPN and Shannon Sharpe of FS1, who are also champions in their respective sports, showed Ja Morant and Co their places.
Here is what Perkins tweeted.
Sharpe’ Tweet.
All the comments by the Grizzlies’ players
“Fine in the West”
Ja Morant said this to ESPN’s Malika Andrews when the team was in fine form late in December last year.
After the All-Star even after Kevin Durant’s move to the Suns and Kyrie Irving’s to the Mavs, his confidence in Grizzlies was still at peak.
“I don’t care. He’s old. … I poke bears. I don’t respect someone until he gives me 40.”
Dillon Brooks said this after Game 2 as the Grizzlies had won a Game in LA and the guard-forward thought of poking The King to see what has in store.
Maybe he still doesn’t respect anybody in LA camp because nobody got 40 on him but could only destroy the Grizzlies by 40 points in a send-off game. Oh, he got the punishment he so asked for.
We are going to be back for a Game 7
Last but not least, Desmond Bane. The two-guard had a pretty good series compared to everyone else in Memphis, other than Ja. However, much like his teammates, he was too quick with his comments.
The man said, “We are going to be back for a Game 7” while being down 3-1, to a 4x NBA champ and 4x Finals MVP.
It was nice to see James and Davis bring these young ones right back to the ground while the former’s 18-year-old son watched from the stands.
At least for this legend’s 20 years long and illustrious career, the Grizzlies should have stopped talking. It could have saved them from some embarrassment.
