Ja Morant named Most Improved Player in the NBA
Most Improved Player #MostImprovedPlayer
Memphis superstar Ja Morant has officially been named the Most Improved Player in the NBA.
Morant won the 2021-22 NBA Most Improved Player award with 38 first-place votes from 100 sportswriters and broadcasters, making him the first player to win the Most Improved Player award with Memphis. The honor comes just two years after Morant was named Rookie of the Year.
The third-year Grizzlies guard won the award during the same season that saw him voted to his first NBA All-Star Game as a starter, a season in which he averaged 27.4 points, 6.7 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Backing up Morant’s Most-Improved credentials, the Grizzlies’ leader increased his scoring by 8.3 points from last season and improved his field goal percentage by 4.3 percent.
After just one 40-point game during his first two seasons in Memphis, Morant pumped in 40 or more points in six games this season.
In two of those games, Morant set the Grizzlies’ single-game regular-season scoring record, first setting the record with 46 points against the Bulls on Feb. 26 and then upping himself with a career-high 52 points against the Spurs on Feb. 28.
Although the award is based on the regular season, Morant, who averaged 16.6 points in the paint per game, hasn’t slowed down in the Western Conference Playoffs.
Morant recorded the first-ever Memphis Grizzlies playoff triple-double against the Minnesota Timberwolves in Game 3 with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists during the Grizzlies’ historic 26-point comeback victory.
Memphis’ second-year guard Desmond Bane finished fifth in the Most Improved Player voting with a total of 74 points. In comparison, Morant finished with 221 points n the Most Improved Player voting system based on first, second and third place voting.
Morant, Bane and the Memphis Grizzlies head into Western Conference Playoffs Round 1, Game 5 against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The best-of-seven series is currently tied up at 2-2.
Story continues
Download the FOX13 Memphis app to receive alerts from breaking news in your neighborhood.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD
Trending stories: