Why We Can’t Take Our Eyes Off Ja Morant
The Grizzlies superstar is a case for athletic aesthetics
Ja Morant. For those of us who watch basketball we know that this is the name on everyone’s lips, everyone’s social media feeds, and on all the highlight reels we see when we close our eyes. For those who are not sports heads, I welcome you to being introduced to this new phenom that I promise it is worthy of learning more about even if you don’t like sports (that is a larger point of conversion I will slowly convince you of…) but for now, let’s get the down low on who Ja Morant is and why we are all (or should be) glued to this basketball phenom.
Quick Background and Stats
Morant is a mere 22 year old starting point guard (that’s the position that sets up the plays and pace of the game) for the Memphis Grizzlies. Born in 1999 in South Carolina, Morant was a talent from the start. He played college ball at Murray State and created enough buzz that in his draft year in 2019 he was a 1st round pick and the 2nd overall, only behind Zion (who has underwhelmed due to a series of injuries and rumored disengagement with his franchise). The southern born and raised Morant had a fine NBA rookie year and second year, averaging about 17 points per game but it is only recently in his third year that he has catapulted into a basketball star.
Rise to Fame
Basketball “star” may be putting it too mildly. Ja Morant has become what can only be called a “Super Star” a label that is rare in all cultural fields but one that is insatiable to witness when it is happening right before your eyes. Since about late winter 2021 the Grizzlies have been outperforming and consistently gaining in the Western Conference ranks and they are currently #3 in the standings (only behind the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors). I remember distinctly watching a Nets/Grizzlies game in the fall and I was floored at seeing Morant play. So much so that I had to buy tickets when the Grizzlies were in town to play my team, the Knicks (I know, it’s a lifelong struggle) this past spring. But I knew I had to see him LIVE, it felt that utterly necessary. Morant is the type of player that just feels rare. Rare in a way that makes you nervous that you will miss seeing the heights of greatness in real time. Rare in the way that makes all the hours of watching a sport feel like a vision quest versus a fandom hobby.
What Makes Morant Different
This rise to fame is partly due because of the story arc of the Grizzlies, they are what is considered a small market team. They are located in Memphis Tennessee versus the standard centers of established franchises like NYC and LA. They are also not a legacy team like the Lakers and Celtics, and those with championships under their belts like the Suns and the Heat. The Grizzlies team as a whole is an underdog’s narrative paradise. All but one player (Steven Allen) is under the age of 25 making it one of the youngest teams in the league. They also play ball like they are not only loving the game but more importantly, really enjoy playing with each other. You can feel the camaraderie on the court and that makes this group of fresh young players feel joyous and not bogged down with the drama of egos that other teams/players have (ah hem, example Westbrook and Harden) that taint the balling vibes.
This highly enjoyable cast of players grind and grin through their games and while collectively they all matter and make deep impacts, Morant clearly is a star not just amongst his fellow teammates but as a player within the league.
At just 6’3” (which is considered small in the NBA) and weighing a mere 175 lbs. Ja is like a force that is just plain, well…unbelievable. Morant’s physical slightness seems inexplicable in the level he operates within but the proof of his abilities is proven night after night. He is almost elastic, gumby like in the way that he can drive through lanes, bodies, even triple teams, and it seems like he is literally gliding through space and time making unreasonably suave shots. His slams are chef’s kiss bellissimo. How in the world does he jump so high, so quick, so far, and over so many heads to drop the ball in like a reverberating bell? (With emphasis but also grace). He is leading the league in drives, shots made in the paint, and he now averages 21 points a game, 7 assists and is a mega box office draw for tickets and views on TV.
That Something Called Swag
What also makes Morant electric is not just his athletic abilities. His basketball IQ and his preternatural understanding and intelligence of the game is often spoken about by commenters, podcasters and former MVPs but he also has this certain thing that can only be called the “it” factor. He has this swag, a coolness, a finesse that is just something you cannot statistically analyze. He has become a zeitgeist, a gateway basketball drug and is initiating a whole new generation of young fans (he is one of the top selling jerseys) that has become an exercise of supply and demand. Few players have garnered such cultural force. I remember first seeing Derrick Rose play during his MVP era with the Bulls and feeling this type of magnetic “wow factor” but with Rose’s repeated injuries his career has unfortunately taken a dip. Sports commentators on such podcasts like The Athletic and The Ringer speak rhapsodically comparing him to other NBA greats like Kobe, AI (Allen Iverson) and even (although in hushed caveats) Jordan. Although it might be a stretch and premature to compare Morant to the forever great Jordan, this is the level of meteoric rise that Morant is currently inhabiting. It is stunning and blood quickening to be witnessing such undeniable and unique talent.
He’s Electric
Morant is not just a baller but an entertaining one performing at peak level. A few weeks ago against the Spurs he had a 52 point game (only 4 of those points were free throws), beating his own personal record and also setting a Grizzlies first over 50. It’s not just the amount of shots made (others have achieved this and even more like Kobe, Curry, Embiid and even Labron just the other night [and let us never forget the champion over them all Wilt Chamberlain's legendary 100 pointer]), but it’s the way Morant plays that makes watching him feel utterly special. The deep dunks, the buzzer beating dropping to the floor threes, the zigging and zagging and hurdling over those that are much taller, much bigger, and doing all of this with wit, aplomb and a twinkle in the eye. It erupts the stadium, it makes you hold your breath, it gives you baby heart attacks that makes you remember you want/need/crave that jolt of seeing something great. This is what makes him so fantastic to witness. Even the TV commentators lose their composure when he makes his moves, there is no partiality when it comes to seeing magic.
What Does it Mean to be a Star
Ja Morant is an example of this unpinnable thing wrapped up in the concept of a star, yes, he is manifesting as a celebrity as well to a certain degree (those two things go hand-in-hand unfortunately), but there is something about this relationship of star power to sports that I find particularly unique and more convincing then in other cultural industries.
Let’s compare sports to the fields of visual arts or the music industry. Both of these mediums have their “stars” and this is based on “talent” but the concept of talent in the arts can be ambiguous (justly/rightly so). The condition of measuring “success” and “abilities” varies for the niche in whatever the medium/form they are under the rubric of, and that’s what makes the concept of taste and aesthetics so fabulously sticky and unpinnable. My love of one thing does not equate equal value to another person’s and vice versa. But sports are a bit different.
Sports and arts/music require forms of physical expression and have their own languages of aesthetics. They all also require practice, practice, practice, but let’s be honest, the end result of being an athlete is much different then being a painter, singer or poet etc. Being a sports athlete is measured differently as there are set rules structures (you are literally playing a game with set rules) and there is a system of leveling up. In sports, you have to make it to the team, prove it through the stats, and you also have to have that luck of not being injured because without your body intact none of the “love” and “need” you have for the form is translatable through production.
There is a lack of ambiguity of the “star” within sports (grant it there are some players that are good stats wise and are “star players” but you just might really dislike personality wise - example for me Trae Young) but at the end of the day the proof is well, the proof. The measurement of evidence in sports is solid, not conceptually wiggly like it is in other cultural genres. That is why the rise of Ja is even more delicious because it is not only this evidence of work, talent and skills, it is also mixed with this other “it” factor that makes it artful and aesthetic. It is operating on this logical set of rules and numbers but also possesses a style and uniqueness that makes it wholly distinct, original, and captivating.
Humans love to bear witness to beauty. In all forms, through all the senses. This is a driving force of why we do all we do. From ingesting mediated culture, replicating it through what we wear, put on our skins and faces, the environments in which we want to live, travel, and be taken photographs within. All that we culturally consume, what we read so we can quote in written or verbal form, what we listen to so we can movie soundtrack our lives… We are constantly seeking out our own aesthetic tool kits for being a part of (by simulating or critiquing) a way of being and seeing our worlds.
Basketball is a game. It is a 75 year old industry with players, teams, owners, rules and management that is used to lubricate the drudgery of living by being a source of entertainment, a branded collective kinship, a way to fill our time off. But it is also where this type of aesthetic magic can occur. To see bodies trained over years and years of work to perform at their highest capacities is a truly beautiful sight to behold. Ja Morant is one such player amongst a league of current players but there is also something special to note about him. He is not just a good player or even a great player. He has the ability to be possibly a generational player, one that energizes a new type of playing, a new conception of what a player’s height, build, and expectations can or should be. He is not entertaining us, he is being fully himself and we get to bear witness to his ascendancy of peak actualization. That is why he is this buzz, why he is this fresh hope. This is why he is jaw dropping, hands clutching, an “oh my god” inducing player that we can’t take our eyes off. I cannot wait to see what else Ja Morant does on the court, and I am thankful to be alive to see the beauty of his game.
Additional Reading
S. K. Wertz, Are Sports Art Forms? The Journal of Aesthetic Education, University of Illinois Press Vol. 13, No. 1, January 1979, pp. 107-109
M. Tracy, The Making of Ja Morant, The New York Times, March 2020
J. Toner, B. Montero, The value of aesthetic judgements in athletic performance, The Journal of Somaesthetics, Volume 6, Number 1, 2020