How Ja Morant recalled rookie season moment to bait Ben Simmons in Grizzlies' win over Nets
For all of Ja Morant's highlights, athleticism and sublime assists, his IQ has been praised just as much by teammates, opponents and Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins.
Morant had 38 points in the Grizzlies' 134-124 win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday, but he made a heady play to draw Ben Simmons' sixth foul with 3:52 left. The Grizzlies (3-1) led 124-118 and Morant let the inbounds slowly roll ahead of him until he got past midcourt.
Simmons ran up to force a steal but committed a foul and Morant walked away while pointing to the Nets' bench to signal Simmons' night was done. Fans might assume it was just Simmons being aggressive as a two-time All-Defensive First Team selection.
But Morant baited him based on past experience from an encounter almost three seasons ago.
"If y’all want to dig up a play my rookie year, we was in Philly ... and the same situation happened like that where Ben in the first half, when I went to look at Coach to get the play and he ran through the ball, got the steal and went to dunk."
Morant's recall was dead on. The play in question was in the second quarter of a game from February 2020. Morant was casually dribbling the ball and looked over at Jenkins to get a play call. Simmons raced over to steal the ball and dunked, just as Morant remembered two years later.
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He didn't think about the play until Monday night in the moment when the ball slowly moved upcourt in front of Morant and he knew what Simmons would do.
"Once I seen him, I was rolling the ball and I was at half (court). I looked at Coach and I see (Simmons) try to look like 'oh yeah,' so I knew had him. He was going to press up and I was going to force the ref to make the call," Morant said.
Jenkins also knew exactly what Morant was doing. He didn't go into detail but Morant did it for him while showing off his excellent memory. It reminded of how Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay can recall his play-calling sequences from old games with precise detail or Lakers forward LeBron James can often call out opposing team's plays before they finish developing.
One person who didn't appreciate the play? Simmons. He said that it wasn't a foul and called it a mistake,
"(Expletive) yeah, it’s frustrating, it’s not a foul, that was (expletive)," Simmons said. "It’s frustrating cause it’s a late game, fourth quarter. It’s a physical, close game. It’s the NBA. It’s not college, not high school. Some people gonna get hit, some people bleed. That’s basketball."
Morant had the last laugh as he improved to 5-0 against the Nets in his career. His 33-foot 3-pointer in the final minutes was his final salvo, but his flashback against Simmons showed his growing maturity to recognize a familiar moment and react differently.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Ja Morant recalls rookie-year play to bait Ben Simmons into sixth foul
