Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies were the second seed in the Western Conference on Feb. 27, but they couldn’t produce when it counted most.
The club slid all the way to the eighth seed by the end of the regular season and fired head coach Taylor Jenkins in the process. It then lost to the Golden State Warriors in the first Play-In game before winning the do-or-die second Play-In match vs. the Dallas Mavericks.
However, the glory was short lived, as they got swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round. The latter team is now in a second-round bout with the Denver Nuggets, who they’ll host for Game 7 on Sunday.
The series features the top two MVP candidates in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic.
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15), Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0), and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2).
Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15), Nuggets guard Christian Braun (0), and Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2).
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
The NBA still hasn’t announced the winner yet, and Morant sounded off about the unusual delay on social media.
“They got to see who wins the series first,” the Murray State alum said.
He was responding to Minnesota Timberwolves guard Bones Hyland, who asked “Anybody else wondered why they haven’t announced MVP yet?”
The NBA taking this long to announce MVP has been an unexpected decision among fans, and clearly players as well. Last season, Jokic was announced as league MVP on May 8, 2024 (via NBA).
Gilgeous-Alexander won the scoring title this season with 32.7 points per game on 51.9 percent shooting (37.5 percent 3 PT). On the other hand, Jokic was third with 29.6 points, ninth with a 57.6 percent field goal clip, third with 12.7 rebounds, and second with 10.2 assists. The 2014 second-round pick also shot 41.7 percent from deep.
Whoever wins Game 7 will have homecourt advantage over the Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals.