In mid-November, when the Lakers beat the Grizzlies at home in L.A., it was in large part to the efforts of Dalton Knecht. The rookie was upset that a week before that game the Grizzlies very tidily (to the tune of 131-114) put the Lakers away in Memphis, but more specifically, that Ja Morant challenged LeBron James. Knecht told ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin that Morant said “he was pretty much the new king around here when Bron’s still in the league.”
This is about the Grizzlies, it is, but Knecht’s umbrage was directed at the crucial element that’s powered Memphis for so long, and what’s put them back on top after last year’s wash of a season: outsized confidence.
It’s been called disrespect, showboating, ego, but whatever the Grizzlies are being called is less important than the baseline quality of confidence the labels all spring from and the team embodies. I’ve also found these other monikers telling— like a league temperature check — depending on who is levelling them and as a result of what. In Knecht’s case, he felt it disrespectful that Morant would make such a claim but Morant’s been saying it for seasons now. What started as general agitation and prowess for his own team seasons ago, a means to get an underdog Grizzlies team fired up, worked. It also turned into something greater: Morant hasn’t replaced James yet but the weight of expectation is there, so is the pathway. The side-effect, this time, was giving a rookie like Knecht his “Welcome to the NBA” moment.
The Grizzlies are sitting third in a densely competitive Western Conference, ranked fifth overall in offence and fourth in defence, and they’ve secured these spots despite largely being without Morant, their diamond-in-the-rough of Desmond Bane, and big man Zach Edey. Jaren Jackson Jr. sits comfortably on over a dozen league leaderboards, including points per 36 minutes, field goals per 100 possessions, block percentage and defensive win shares. Scottie Pippen Jr. Is an assist machine with the kind of court vision that usually takes seasons to sharpen; Jay Huff can sharp-shoot the three and the next possession take the ball up for a reverse dunk right in front of LeBron James.
And there’s no slouch in them. All down the roster, despite the injury gaps, Memphis counts seven players who average at least and typically more than 10 points a game. Of those seven, all split their minutes, with Jackson Jr. averaging the most at 29:20 a game. The result is an early depth that not many other teams can rival, and one that bodes well for the return of mainstays like Bane, newcomers like Edey, and of course, Morant.
What’s interesting is that where Morant used to be the de facto and singular engine — and within that solitary responsibility was where Memphis found its biggest vulnerability — the power has shifted. In fact, it shifts multiple times over in a game. This easy, seamless dynamism is what drives the Grizzlies and has made them, early on, such a tough team to beat.
With any early season success, staying power is a question. The Grizzlies have certainly cruised by on their confidence before only to have it deftly shaken come postseason. The difference is that the majority of this group went through a very public and tumultuous time last year, first shying from and then forced to live in the limelight Morant cast upon them, even after his suspension sent him away from the team.
Hard times, in the relatively simplified scope of basketball anyway, tend to yield only two results: come out the other side with far more perspective and perseverance, or opt for the eject button. The Grizzlies have gone with the former and so too, it seems, has Morant. Where they’ve met is back on a joyful field, anchored by ability, new depth, and all the more confidence — however you want to name it.
