Ja Morant's father Tee Morant reveals he modeled Grizzlies superstar's game after LeBron James' ex-teammate
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant's first trainer was his dad, Tee. Tee Morant first played high school basketball, where he won a 4A State Championship with Ray Allen and the Hillcrest Wildcats, and later played NCAA basketball at Claflin.
Tee Morant's NBA aspirations didn't pan out despite an impressive career that saw him earn two MVP honors in the EIAC Conference. So when he started training his son, he used former teammate Allen's work ethic as a blueprint.
In an interview with Overtime, Tee Morant reflected on his time spent playing alongside Allen, who won a title alongside LeBron James in Miami. In addition to praising the Hall of Famer's work ethic even from a young age, Tee revealed he's modeled Ja's training after the NBA great's work ethic.
"Me and him played together all the way from seventh grade to our state championship year '93 when we graduated. Ray was always awesome. Ray had a different type of work ethic that I didn't have. I was just going on raw talent and I actually, when we had Ja, that's who I patterned how to train Ja and all that after," Tee Morant said.
Ja Morant's game is different from Allen's. Unlike Allen, the high-flying young guard relies more on his athleticism and ability to get to the hoop.
However, if it wasn't for Allen's work ethic, Ja Morant may not have developed the way he did.
Former US Men's Soccer Team Dr. explains significance of Ja Morant's hip injury
After missing all but nine games last season due to a suspension followed by an injury, Ja Morant returned to action this season. Over eight games, the standout guard averaged 20.6 points, 9.1 assists and 5.0 rebounds per game before going down with a hip injury in Memphis' Nov. 6 game against the Lakers.
While fans have been eager to see him back on the court, according to Michael Gerhardt, an orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine who spent 20+ years working with the US Men's National Soccer Team, the injury sustained by Morant is most commonly seen in automobile accidents.
The injury, described as a hip subluxation, means that Morant's hip partially dislocated and then slid back into place on its own. While the partial dislocation isn't expected to sideline him for the rest of the season, Gerhardt spoke about the significance in an interview with The Commercial Appeal:
"It’s still very painful. A lot of ligaments and things can get stretched in that area and can create problems in there, even though it wasn’t a full dislocation. It’s more common in high velocity accidents like motor vehicle accidents.
"Things where there’s high velocity forces involved that cause the hip to slide out of the back and dislocate.”
With Morant listed as week-to-week, Memphis will try to stay afloat in the stacked Western Conference.