Who is Ja Morant?

Ja Morant was selected 2nd overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2019 NBA draft after an impressive sophomore season at Murray State. In just his second year, Morant led the Grizzlies to the playoffs and claimed the 2020-21 NBA Rookie of the Year award.

Now in his fourth NBA season at only 24 years old, Morant has already been named an All-Star twice and earned All-NBA Second Team honors in 2022. With impressive athleticism, superb court vision, and playmaking ability, Morant has transformed into a triple-double threat and has helped turn the Grizzlies into a dangerous playoff contender out of the West.

Ja Morant's early life

Ja Morant was born on August 10, 1999, in Dalzell, South Carolina, where he spent most of his early life. The high-flying star picked up basketball from a very early stage and was a high school superstar playing for Crestwood High School in Sumter, South Carolina. He ended his high school career as the school's all-time leading scorer in 2017.

Ja Morant's family and personal life

Ja Morant's parents are Tee and Jamie Morant who were both basketball players. Morant has a younger sister, Teniya. His mother was a high school basketball star and played softball in college. On the other hand, Morant's father played alongside Allen Iverson in high school and then played college basketball for Claflin University. Even though Tee had an opportunity to play overseas basketball, he opted to stay home to take care of his wife when she was pregnant with Ja. He sacrificed his basketball career and became a barber to help his son become a basketball star.

Morant reportedly dated Kadre Dixon, who played basketball and volleyball for Fisk University. They were alleged to have started dating in 2017 and kept it private until Dixon posted a picture of the two on social media in 2018. The two welcomed their daughter Kaari Jaidyn Morant in 2019. Many believe Morant and Dixon broke up after they unfollowed each other on social media.

The Grizzlies star has a daughter named Kaari Jaidyn Morant, born in 2019.

Ja Morant's Net Worth 2024

Ja Morant is one of the most exciting young talents in the NBA. His fortune has been on the rise as his ascension in the league continues. According to various reports, Morant has an estimated net worth of $50 million. The Memphis Grizzlies star earned around $12 million in NBA salaries this year. In his four years in the league, Morant has earned around $38 million in NBA salaries. Furthermore, the point guard also has endorsement deals with major brands like Nike, BodyArmor, Hulu, Beats by Dre, etc, which adds millions to his fortune.

Morant continues to benefit from the $39.6 million four-year extension he signed in 2021 with the Grizzlies. The contract is expected to rise to $231 million based on assorted milestones. He has also signed a lucrative deal with Nike, earning him an annual figure of $12 million. Morant turned heads at Powerade, who secured him on a multi-year contract, adding $10 million a year to his earnings.

Ja Morant's career

Ja Morant was not heavily recruited despite his great performances for Crestwood High School. The only major NCAA Division I school to offer Ja a scholarship was the University of South Carolina. However, he opted to play for Murray State after an assistant coach saw him playing in a gym. Morant and his family thought Murray State wanted him more so they agreed to the scholarship in 2017. The young hooper slowly but steadily became one of the best college stars in the country playing for the program. In his freshman year, the school lost in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The team was eliminated in the second round the next year. Morant finished his college career as the only player ever to average at least 20 points and 10 assists per game in a single season. After the elimination, he declared for the NBA draft in 2019.

After a scintillating college career, Morant grabbed the attention of NBA teams. He was touted to be a lottery pick and the Grizzlies selected him as the second overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft. Interestingly, Morant's AAU teammate Zion Williamson went to the New Orleans Pelicans as the #1 pick.

Morant hit the ground running and became one of the most important players for the Memphis Grizzlies. He started all 67 games in his rookie season and averaged 17.8 points, 7.3 assists, and 3.9 rebounds per game. With the help of this, Ja clinched the Rookie of the Year award in 2020. Miami Heat's Kendrick Nunn finished second and Zion Williamson came in third.

Ja continued his ascension in the league in the following seasons and made his first-ever All-Star appearance in 2022, also winning the Most Improved Player of the Year award. He made the All-Star team this season as well.

In February 2023, Morant was named to his second NBA All-Star Game as a reserve guard for the Western Conference. Following this, in March 2023, Morant was involved in an incident at a Colorado nightclub. This resulted in him getting suspended for eight games without pay. The suspension covered the six games that Morant had already missed as a result of his leave of absence from the Grizzlies. 

Two months after the first suspension, Morant was suspended from all team activities by the Grizzlies for flashing a gun during another Instagram Live session. This resulted in him getting suspended for 25 games provided that he fulfilled a league-sponsored program that addressed his wrongdoings. Morant returned from suspension in December.

Ja Morant's career stats

Regular season stats:

Games played - 257

Points per game - 22.5

Assists per game - 7.4

Rebounds per game - 4.8

Playoffs stats:

Games played - 19

Points per game - 27.3

Assists per game - 8.6

Rebounds per game - 6.8

Ja Morant's endorsements

Some of the major endorsement deals of Ja Morant are as follows:

Nike

BodyArmor

Hulu

Beats by Dre

Uber Eats

Panini America

PSD

Ja Morant's major achievements and awards

2 x NBA All-Star (2022-2023)

All NBA Second Team (2022)

NBA Most Improved Player (2022)

NBA Rookie of the Year (2020)

NBA All-Rookie First Team (2020)

Consensus first-team All-American (2019)

NCAA season assists leader (2019)

Lute Olson Award (2019)

Bob Cousy Award (2019)

OVC Player of the Year (2019)

2? First-team All-OVC (2018, 2019)

OVC Tournament MVP (2019)

Ja Morant's current contract details

Ja Morant signed a four-year $39.62 million rookie scale contract with the Grizzlies in 2019. Then in July 2022, he reportedly signed a massive five-year $194.3 million designated rookie contract extension. With this, Morant is all set to receive an annual average salary of $38 million. He will earn around $33 million for the ongoing 2023-24 season

Ja Morant's charity and foundation

Ja Morant reportedly organized a fundraiser for his 20th birthday to help The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis and pledged to match every donation up to $10,000. He also gifted a recovery room to Murray State, which is fully designed with NBA-approved technology to help the program. In 2021, Morant took to social media and started the #Jas12DaysofKindess drive where he asked his fans to suggest charitable organizations that he would go on to support for the next 12 days. Morant, together with his partners, helped organizations such as Camp Conquest, George Mark Children's House, Opportunities Inc., First Responders Children's Foundation, etc during the drive.

Ja Morant's shoe deal

Ja Morant signed a multi-year deal with Nike before the 2019 NBA draft, which is reportedly worth $12.01 million. Given the star's high-flying and electrifying style, he is one of the most marketable young athletes in the league. Nike took a substantial step in its relationship with Morant at the end of last year. After rumors of Ja getting his line of signature shoes, the brand unveiled the "Day One" Nike JA 1 in December 2022. Then in April 2023, the JA 1s were released to the public.

In its most recent development, the Memphis Grizzlies suspended the 23-year-old Morant when a new video showed the All-Star brandishing a gun, which left NBA commissioner Adam Silver “shocked.” Morant was subsequently suspended for a second time for the same reason – a video being posted of the MVP candidate holding a weapon – the second incident in two months. Following this, Morant’s signature shoe was no longer listed for sale on Nike’s website or the company app.

Ja Morant's car collection

Ja Morant is a huge fan of fancy cars and has spent similarly on his car collection. As soon as he made it to the NBA, the star gifted new cars to his parents. He reportedly owns a Rolls Royce Dawn, which is worth around $1 million. Morant also has an Aston Martin Vantage, a Mercedes-Benz A-Class, a Porsche Cayenne, and a Ferrari Roma.

Ja Morant's house

Ja Morant bought a mansion for his parents in Eads, Tennessee, in 2019 worth a reported $1.3 million, after signing his rookie contract. After signing a huge extension in 2022, Morant added another property near his parent's mansion for a reported $3 million. The mansion spans 13,836 square feet and includes seven bedrooms among other luxury amenities.

Ja Morant's social media accounts