SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 20 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ SU D5
STEALS GSTL. AVG.
James, L.A.L. ................................... 41651 .59
Ball, CHA ......................................... 53831 .57
Anunoby, TOR ................................. 42651 .55
Covington, POR ............................... 48741 .54
Edwards, MIN ................................. 53791 .49
Holiday, MIL .................................... 47691 .47
Vanderbilt, MIN .............................. 54791 .46
Jones, NO ........................................ 56811 .45
Okeke, ORL ...................................... 49711 .45
Payton, GS ...................................... 56781 .39
Curry, GS ......................................... 54741 .37
Jokic, DEN ....................................... 52701 .35
O'Neale, UTA ................................... 54711 .31
BLOCKS GBLK. AVG.
Turner, IND ...................................... 42118 2.81
Gobert, UTA .................................... 44992 .25
Williams, BOS ................................. 47104 2.21
Jackson, MEM ................................. 59129 2.19
Bamba, ORL .................................... 49901 .84
Poeltl, SA ........................................ 49871 .78
Robinson, NY ................................... 53881 .66
Mobley, CLE .................................... 50821 .64
Gafford, WAS .................................. 49751 .53
Whiteside, UTA ............................... 46701 .52
Embiid, PHI ..................................... 46661 .43
Antetokounmpo, MIL ...................... 49681 .39
Capela, ATL ..................................... 50681 .36
Allen, CLE ........................................ 50671 .34
Covington, POR ............................... 48631 .31
Horford, BOS ................................... 51671 .31
Vucevic, CHI .................................... 52611 .17
Stewart, DET .................................. 50571 .14
Hartenstein, L.A.C. ......................... 47531 .13
Towns, MIN ..................................... 52581 .12REBOUNDS GOFF.DEF.TOT.AVG.
Portis, MIL ........................ 51132 333 465 9.12
Drummond, PHI ................ 49136 297 433 8.84
Vanderbilt, MIN ................ 54167 310 477 8.83
Kuzma, WAS ..................... 5562421 483 8.78
ASSISTS GAST. AVG.
Paul, PHO ........................................ 58619 10.7
Harden, BKN .................................... 44447 10.2
Murray, SA ...................................... 52486 9.3
Young, ATL ...................................... 53493 9.3
Doncic, DAL ..................................... 44395 9.0
Garland, CLE .................................... 47374 8.0
Jokic, DEN ....................................... 52410 7.9
Lowry, MIA ...................................... 46364 7.9
Ball, CHA ......................................... 53400 7.5
Westbrook, L.A.L. ........................... 57430 7.5
Haliburton, SAC .............................. 51379 7.4
Russell, MIN .................................... 45315 7.0
VanVleet, TOR ................................ 50348 7.0
Morant, MEM .................................. 46316 6.9
Holiday, MIL .................................... 47309 6.6
Smart, BOS ..................................... 50267 5.3
Cunningham, DET ........................... 44227 5.2
Mitchell, UTA .................................. 46239 5.2
STEALS GSTL. AVG.
Murray, SA ...................................... 52106 2.04
Trent, TOR ....................................... 48901 .88
Paul, PHO ........................................ 58108 1.86
Smart, BOS ..................................... 50901 .80
Thybulle, PHI ................................... 43771 .79
Haliburton, SAC .............................. 51861 .69
VanVleet, TOR ................................ 50821 .64
Melton, MEM .................................. 51831 .63
Mitchell, UTA .................................. 46751 .63FREE THROWS FT FTA PCT.
Durant, BKN .................................. 228 255 .894
Middleton, MIL .............................. 191 216 .884
George, L.A.C. ............................... 103 117 .880
Herro, MIA .................................... 124 141 .879
Lillard, POR ................................... 159 181 .878
VanVleet, TOR .............................. 153 175 .874
Mitchell, UTA ................................ 179 205 .873
Maxey, PHI .................................... 149 171 .871
Bogdanovic, UTA ........................... 181 208 .870
Harden, BKN .................................. 304 350 .869
LaVine, CHI .................................... 199 229 .869
White, SA ...................................... 139 160 .869
Ross, ORL ........................................ 98113 .867
DeRozan, CHI ................................ 381 440 .866
Porzingis, DAL ............................... 147 170 .865
REBOUNDS GOFF. DEF.TOT.AVG.
Gobert, UTA ...................... 44155 496 651 14.80
Jokic, DEN ......................... 52148 570 718 13.81
Capela, ATL ....................... 50186 417 603 12.06
Sabonis, IND ..................... 47155 412 567 12.06
Vucevic, CHI ...................... 52106 503 609 11.71
Valanciunas, NO ............... 53171 439 610 11.51
Antetokounmpo, MIL ....... 4994457 551 11.24
Embiid, PHI ....................... 4691423 514 11.17
Nurkic, POR ....................... 56167 452 619 11.05
Allen, CLE .......................... 50181 370 551 11.02
Randle, NY ........................ 57104 478 582 10.21
Carter, ORL ....................... 51106 414 520 10.20
Wood, HOU ....................... 5493457 550 10.19
Williams, BOS ................... 47185 272 457 9.72
Towns, MIN ....................... 52146 359 505 9.71
Adams, MEM .................... 56251 286 537 9.59
Doncic, DAL ....................... 4438366 404 9.18
Poeltl, SA .......................... 49190 259 449 9.16THREE-POINTERS 3FG 3FGA PCT.
Williams, BOS ................................. 86193 .446
McDermott, SA ............................. 100 227 .441
Johnson, PHO ................................ 135 314 .430
Muscala, OKC .................................. 70163 .429
Johnson, SA .................................. 105 247 .425
Ball, CHI ......................................... 110 260 .423
Bane, MEM .................................... 162 387 .419
Mills, BKN ..................................... 186 444 .419
Batum, L.A.C. .................................. 79189 .418
Forbes, SA ....................................... 63151 .417
Gordon, HOU ................................. 106 254 .417
Wiggins, GS .................................. 122 295 .414
Haliburton, SAC ............................ 104 252 .413
Conley, UTA ................................... 123 300 .410
Barnes, SAC .................................. 108 264 .409
Towns, MIN ................................... 110 269 .409
Connaughton, MIL ......................... 125 307 .407
Holiday, MIL .................................... 87214 .407
O'Neale, UTA ................................... 82202 .406
Powell, POR ..................................... 93229 .406
Portis, MIL ...................................... 97241 .402
Strus, MIA ..................................... 122 304 .401
VanVleet, TOR .............................. 201 501 .401
White, CHI ....................................... 93232 .401
Curry, PHI ...................................... 100 250 .400
Simons, POR ................................. 162 405 .400
FREE THROWS FT FTA PCT.
Poole, GS ....................................... 153 166 .922
Curry, GS ....................................... 238 259 .919
Gallinari, ATL ................................ 110 120 .917
Garland, CLE .................................. 102 112 .911
Bane, MEM ...................................... 98108 .907
Young, ATL .................................... 327 364 .898
Butler, MIA ................................... 283 316 .896FIELD GOALS FG FGA PCT.
Gobert, UTA .................................. 246 346 .711
Allen, CLE ...................................... 329 494 .666
McGee, PHO .................................. 222 338 .657
Harrell, WAS ................................. 247 383 .645
Ayton, PHO ................................... 266 420 .633
Poeltl, SA ...................................... 290 472 .614
Capela, ATL ................................... 239 408 .586
Sabonis, IND ................................. 331 571 .580
Jokic, DEN ..................................... 516 906 .570
Aldridge, BKN ................................ 227 406 .559
Antetokounmpo, MIL .................... 496 906 .547
Valanciunas, NO ............................ 366 680 .538
Collins, ATL ................................... 325 605 .537
Davis, L.A.L. .................................. 341 635 .537
Nurkic, POR ................................... 321 600 .535
Bridges, PHO ................................. 308 581 .530
Adebayo, MIA ............................... 241 460 .524
James, L.A.L. ................................. 453 868 .522
Towns, MIN ................................... 453 867 .522
Durant, BKN .................................. 379 729 .520
DeRozan, CHI ................................ 566 1094 .517
Gordon, DEN .................................. 298 577 .516
Carter, ORL .................................... 274 540 .507
Holiday, MIL .................................. 338 667 .507
Tate, HOU ...................................... 276 544 .507
Brunson, DAL ................................ 375 746 .503
Mobley, CLE .................................. 302 600 .503
Embiid, PHI ................................... 439 887 .495
Morant, MEM ................................ 460 930 .495
Siakam, TOR ................................. 372 752 .495
THREE-POINTERS 3FG 3FGA PCT.
Tucker, MIA ..................................... 72160 .450
Kennard, L.A.C. ............................. 137 306 .448SCORING GFGFTPTS. AVG.
Embiid, PHI ....................... 46439 4211361 29.6
Antetokounmpo, MIL ........ 49496 3931443 29.4
James, L.A.L. ..................... 41453 1721192 29.1
DeRozan, CHI .................... 55566 3811547 28.1
Young, ATL ........................ 53495 3271475 27.8
Doncic, DAL ....................... 44428 2341212 27.5
Morant, MEM .................... 46460 2441233 26.8
Jokic, DEN ......................... 52516 2361352 26.0
Curry, GS ........................... 54452 2381393 25.8
Mitchell, UTA .................... 46426 1791184 25.7
Tatum, BOS ....................... 56500 2851439 25.7
Booker, PHO ...................... 51473 2201300 25.5
LaVine, CHI ........................ 47411 1991156 24.6
Towns, MIN ....................... 52453 2531269 24.4
Brown, BOS ....................... 46398 1741092 23.7
Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC. 43 334 241 976 22.7
Harden, BKN ...................... 44292 304 990 22.5
Ingram, NO ........................ 45366 195 993 22.1
Edwards, MIN ................... 53415 1661159 21.9
Siakam, TOR ..................... 44372 172 964 21.9
Fox, SAC ............................ 48392 2121045 21.8
VanVleet, TOR .................. 50363 1531080 21.6
Garland, CLE ...................... 47365 102 953 20.3
Ball, CHA ........................... 53379 1621062 20.0
Bridges, CHA ..................... 58431 1931161 20.0
Herro, MIA ........................ 46340 124 920 20.0
Murray, SA ........................ 52428 1131036 19.9
Randle, NY ......................... 57406 2251130 19.8
Middleton, MIL .................. 48316 191 932 19.4
Sabonis, IND ..................... 47331 191 888 18.9
Russell, MIN ...................... 45291 130 847 18.8
Harris, PHI ......................... 49357 143 914 18.7
Rozier, CHA ....................... 51349 104 953 18.7
Trent, TOR ......................... 48323 92 891 18.6
NBA LEADERSprofessional Basketballget dirty with his transgressions. He wants that
smoke when it comes to criticism, too. He
wants to get better, to understand what he
didn’t see on his turnovers, to see whether his
feet were positioned correctly on those missed
jumpers. And he will be the first to accept
blame when his team falls short.
“That’s what I wanted to instill in him, and I
always told him: ‘There’s two types of goats —
the greatest of all time or the one who blew the
game. Never be afraid to be either one of
them,’ ” Tee Morant said. “Coaching him is
something I realize I don’t have to do anymore.
The dude is so cerebral, it’s crazy, because he
understands exactly what to do.”
Old habits are hard to break, though, even
for someone who has finally been kind of, sort
of broken. So when Ja Morant recorded that
block on Avery Bradley last month, Tee couldn’t
help but rib his son. In this instance, however,
he wasn’t hating. He was trying to make sense
of what he had just witnessed. Although he
cursed to himself after Morant threw a lazy
pass that was intercepted, Tee knew his son
would recover. How he would make up for the
blunder was another story.
“Ain’t no way. There’s no way he timed it that
perfect,” Tee Morant said, sounding as if his seat
was in Bradley’s head and not on the floor at
Crypto.com Arena. “That dude’s got his deodor-
ant mark on the backboard. Who does that?”
“I’m still hard on him,” Tee Morant added.
But his dissent is expressed in a different way,
he said; he won’t jump up to cheer his son all
the time. “My thing was to continue to study the
game and realize what we have to do to take it to
another level. Right now, I’m a little bit befud-
dled. He’s playing out of his mind, for real. He’s
so disrespectful.”
Tee Morant won’t accept the blame for that:
“That boy a cyborg. I built the machine. I can’t
control it.”spectacular, gliding layup and wanted to con-
firm to his adoring fans that he is, indeed, the
man. “I’m him,” he shouted. A kid in a Curry
jersey attempted to give Morant a high-five;
instead, he got a stare-down and a snub. Mo-
rant might have stayed silent before that hilari-
ous exchange if his words weren’t supported by
his work.
“I’m one of the most humblest dudes you’ll
ever meet if you ask people who have been
around me, but I’m also confident in my game,”
said Morant, who is on pace to become the sixth
player in NBA history to average at least
25 points, five rebounds and five assists in his
age-22 season. Oscar Robertson, Michael Jor-
dan, Tracy McGrady, LeBron James and Luka
Doncic are the others. He added that the Griz-
zlies have built the right roster for his talents to
shine.
“That’s a credit to the organization for put-
ting such a great group of guys around me that
allows me to be myself and play at a very high
level. I feel like we have a group of guys who are
unselfish, who got something to prove, got a
chip on their shoulders, and it shows every time
we go out there to play.”
The explosive, acrobatic plays — even his
audacious missed dunks — have garnered the
most attention, but Morant’s success isn’t built
on athleticism alone. He’s a student of the
game, and his foundation is rooted in funda-
mentals, not flash. When Morant whips a
3 0-foot, behind-the-back pass on a fast break or
contorts his body at some odd angle to finish at
the rim, it’s not because he spent time watching
mix tapes or practicing those moves; they were
forbidden in his home. He thrives in the wide-
open NBA like a classically trained pianist
whose creativity lets him double as a mind-
blowing jazz improviser.
In film sessions, Morant says, he doesn’t
want to bathe in his triumphs; he would ratherpart of his father’s tough love.
“It’s always to make me stay hungry,” said
Morant, whose relentless hunt for respect has
resulted in his being named rookie of the year,
leading the Grizzlies to the playoffs in his
second year and becoming the ninth active
player to make his first all-star appearance as a
starter by his third season.
This season, which has landed Morant in the
conversation for the NBA’s MVP, began with
him posting a catchphrase on social media:
“welcome to the dark.” It’s a nod to all of the
jump shots, sprints and floaters done out of the
limelight, with the assistance of his father and
trainers Jonathan Thomas and Trey Draper.
The message has been repeated with each
accolade, accompanied by a ninja emoji, sug-
gesting Morant was plotting a stealth attack on
the league.
But, Morant said, “I wasn’t planning nothing
sneaky. I knew it all along that I could be this
type of player.”
What Morant is now doing is in your face,
with plenty of moxie and several more doses of
intrepidity. The Grizzlies might be young, but
they aren’t docile. They flaunt and taunt with-
out fear of repercussions. And they didn’t start
once they became a playoff contender.
During his rookie season, Morant took some
shots on social media at Andre Iguodala, a
three-time champion who refused to play for
the rebuilding Grizzlies, sitting out as he waited
to be traded or released. That attitude has
carried through to today; the team has had
smack-talking incidents with LeBron James
and Julius Randle. After a recent game against
the New York Knicks, Morant said: “We climb
up the chimney. We ain’t ducking no smoke.”
And there’s no minimum age or height re-
quirement to be subjected to Morant’s indigna-
tion. During a Jan. 12 victory against the Gold-
en State Warriors, Morant got fouled on a“To tell you the truth, this is the happiest I’ve
been watching him play basketball,” Tee Mo-
rant said. “Because now I can be a fan.”
The man who used to sit on the opposing
team’s side at his son’s high school games so
that he could heckle or hear what their fans had
to say and share that venom with Ja now finds
himself more prepared to clap over some no-
he-didn’t play than to snap over every little
mistake. It’s a slightly uncomfortable position,
even with Tee’s cushy leather courtside seat
allowing him to live vicariously through an
emerging superstar who has guided the Mem-
phis Grizzlies to their second-best start in
franchise history and the third-best record in
the NBA.
“It’s like a love-hate to me. I love the fact that
he’s finally getting his just due, but I hate it
because I’m such a villain of complacency,” Tee
Morant said. “I hate it when people get a little
notoriety and stop working.”
For so long, Tee Morant felt the need to
nudge his son, to make sure he never lost sight
of his dreams. Tee and his wife, Jamie, raised Ja
in tiny Dalzell, S.C., where Tee played high
school basketball alongside future Hall of Fam-
er Ray Allen. A bouncy player whose profes-
sional aspirations ended with the arrival of his
son, Tee helped Ja develop his hops through
hundreds of daily jumps on 20-inch-thick trac-
tor tires near the cement backyard court he
built to train Ja and his friends.
Although he says “Ja has been Ja at every
level,” Tee struggled to not view it as a personal
failing when big-time colleges weren’t banging
on their door to recruit his son. But Ja always
made the best of his circumstances, including
using the platform provided by Murray State to
become the No. 2 pick of the 2019 NBA draft. Ja
Morant has never confused the most importantMORANT FROM D1Morant makes even his father a believerJACOB KUPFERMAN/ASSOCIATED PRESS
In his breakout third season, Ja Morant has been named an all-star starter while guiding the Grizzlies to their second-best start in franchise history and the third-best record in the NBA.