Ja Morant reserves special one-word praise for Boogie Fland’s clutch show vs. Miami
After Boogie Fland's 18-point outing against the Miami Hurricanes on Tuesday, Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant took to Instagram to react. Fland's 18-point outing included a game-sealing midrange dagger with just under a minute left to give Arkansas a 76-73 lead the Razorbacks held until the final buzzer.
With Fland projected to be a first-round pick in this year's NBA Draft, Morant had a simple one-word response to the guard's game-clinching shot on Tuesday.
Along with posting a clip of the shot on his Instagram story, the two-time All-Star posted a crossed-fingers emoji while writing:
"League 🤞🏽"
Fland finished the game with 18 points, four rebounds and six assists while shooting 46.2 percent from the field on 13 attempts, which included four 3-pointers.
After an eight-point outing against the University of Illinois on Thursday, his play on Tuesday has drawn tons of attention from fans, including Ja Morant.
Looking at the connection between Ja Morant and Boogie Fland as Arkansas star prepares for the NBA draft
If Boogie Fland's attacking style of play looks familiar to Ja Morant fans, it's because the Arkansas guard tries to model his game after the Memphis Grizzlies star.
In June of 2022, before Fland was a star at Arkansas, he spoke with On3 about his style of play, stating that he tries to play like Morant.
“I’m a combo guard. I like to do a little of both," Fland said. "I’m a leader on the court. I’m not the selfish type. Everyone likes to play with me because I’m selfless. I try to play like Ja Morant. He’s unselfish and gets his teammates involved."
"He’s explosive, and I’m trying to build that in me. I’m taking bits and pieces here and there. I like to watch a lot of Sharife Cooper when he was in high school.”
Now, Fland is represented by Lift Sports Management, who, according to SportsBusinessJournal, is in a strategic partnership with Rubicon Talent, which manages Morant.
Because of that, the two share a connection beyond just Fland looking up to Morant and modeling his game after the NBA guard.
While Memphis has their own 2025 first-round pick, it seems unlikely that there's a scenario where the Grizzlies land Fland unless they were to trade up. The team is currently ranked fourth in the West, and isn't likely to wind up with a lottery pick if they continue to play the way they have through the early stretch of the season.