“Murray State guard leaps over 6’8 defender for a monster dunk!”: When a 6’3 Ja Morant posterized a UT Martin power forward in the most atrocious fashion

Ja Morant in Murray State was terrorizing far bigger players while just a couple of years before that he used to make 1/25 dunks in High School.

One of the most electrifying and high-flying players in the NBA, Ja Morant, was “a short, slow guard” by his own accounts if you’d heard him before his draft in 2019. That might have played a role in him being a lightly recruited player from High School.

But the Crestwood alumni didn’t let it get inside his head. As we all are now witnessing some of the most prolific dunks that we used to see just in Dunk contests, on a regular basis since the day Ja made his debut in the league.

Also read: “Kemba Walker’s game winning step back for UConn at MSG is one of the coldest shots ever!”: When the point guard unrealistically led his team to Big East and NCAA championships

Obviously, it didn’t come to him after getting into the league, he learned the art pretty well before getting into college.

“My 11th-grade summer, going into my senior year, is when I started dunking consistently,” Morant once said. “Before then, I’d probably get one dunk out of 25 tries.”

But he still went unnoticed and was a 0-star recruit, but then he decided to take care of the business as soon as he got into the Murray State University.

In Murray State, Ja Morant was posterzing Big Men

Much like the NBA stars in 2019, college athletes weren’t ready for a 17-year-old 6’3 guard to come in flying with the ball to posterize their Power Forwards and Centers. Ja did that throughout his time in Murray State. But posterizing someone is one thing, but jumping over a guy 5 inches taller than you is another.

In Murray State’s 98-77 win over UT Martin, Morant slammed arguably the greatest poster in the history of basketball. The 6’3′ guard was moving fast towards the rim and a 6’8′ Quintin Dove tried to take a charge, what ended up happening was mind-boggling. Have a look at it.

Ja Morant with absolutely NO regard for human life

(via @MSURacers) pic.twitter.com/YYJtbb91Vr

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) January 11, 2019

Maybe it began that day, but Ja still continues to horrify big defenders and rim protectors even in the NBA to not end up in his posters after the game. He has his fair share of misses, which if he had made would easily leave the likes of Vince Carter, Dominique Wilkins, and Michael Jordan far behind on best dunkers tally.

But he attempts way too atrocious dunks for more to be completed. Still, he keeps giving us crazy highlights whenever he takes the court. We are blessed to witness it and hope to keep seeing his fun, spirited basketball games on a regular basis.

Also read: “A 0-star recruit, Ja Morant repaid the faith Murray State put in him”: The Grizzlies MVP candidate was once a lightly recruited High School player from South Carolina

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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