What’s next for Ja Morant after 2019 NCAA tournament performance?
Ja Morant goes off in the 1st half vs. Florida State as he hits five 3-pointers on his way to 18 points before halftime. (0:37)
HARTFORD, Conn. — As Ja Morant left the court at the XL Center on Saturday night, he handed his shoes to a kid sitting courtside before he walked toward the tunnel and waved as fans dressed in Florida State, Murray State, Duke, Boston Celtics and New York Yankees garb all cheered for him.
He’d left an impression and a question: When can we see that show again?
Morant, a projected top-three pick, would not commit to entering the NBA draft this summer after his team’s lopsided loss to Florida State in the second round on Saturday.
“That time will come,” Morant said following the 90-62 defeat. “My focus is not on that right now. It’s just on celebrating what a great season we had with my teammates.”
His effort in the first and second rounds of the NCAA tournament, likely his last action at the collegiate level, was the culmination of a 48-hour blur. Now, NBA scouts and executives will decide if Morant is worthy of a high draft pick.
“He’ll flourish in our league,” said one NBA scout on Saturday.
Some in the stands had paid as much as $800 for nosebleed seats to see him live.
Morant’s triple-double in a win over Marquette on Thursday magnified his profile, which grew on Friday as social media steeped the buzz around him in a pot of hype with celebrities like Steph Curry saying the sophomore’s “transition” to the next level will not be difficult — all before he made his first five 3-point attempts and scored 18 points in the first half against FSU on Saturday.
“To be honest with you, I’m still not sure that we stopped Morant and I’m not sure anybody can,” Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton said after Morant finished 8-for-21 from the field and a career-worst 3-for-15 mark inside the arc.
We’ve seen this script. Barring an extraordinary event, Morant will soon leave Murray State and take his talents to the NBA. And once that happens, the league will add a player who demonstrated the flamboyance and skills of a next-level star during this brief stay in this year’s NCAA tournament.
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As he racked up buckets against Marquette on Thursday, he pointed toward family members and friends who sat in the front row. His two-handed dunk over Joey Hauser will live on highlight reels for years.
He threw a wild behind-the-back pass in the middle of a dominant win over Marquette and nobody got mad. He scored over 7-foot-4 Christ Koumadje in one of the season’s most impressive drives.
And when he hit a 3-pointer in the first half over Florida State on Saturday, he feigned a trance.
“Oh … my … god! Oh … my … god! Oh … my … god!” he screamed as he stared at the ceiling and ran down the court.
The subdued youngster who doesn’t like to talk about his draft status becomes an America’s Got Talent contestant with a basketball in his hands, zipping impossible passes through traffic, soaring over bigger defenders and making sure you know he’s having fun while he’s doing it.
“I just try to get to the middle of the floor,” he said, “and then, I have options.”
The coming months for Morant will feature a disproportionate amount of scrutiny. The general public has dissected Zion Williamson ad nauseam, generating enough banter for a series of Ted Talks on the Duke star’s strengths and weaknesses. But Williamson’s train continued to build momentum throughout the five-month season.
His projection as the top pick in this summer’s NBA draft stands.
Nothing feels certain for Morant.
Is he strong enough to consistently finish at the next level? Will his defense improve? Can a 34.4 percent 3-point shooter excel in a league that thrives on spacing? Is his speed enough of an edge to overcome any weaknesses?
Those are the questions some of Thursday’s admirers asked on Saturday after the Florida state loss, and they’re all questions Morant and a collection of NBA executives will likely confront in the coming months.
That’s why the next steps for Morant will demand our attention.
Maybe he’s the next Russell Westbrook. Maybe he’s a bust-in-the-making.
In just 48 hours, however, he captivated a national audience that will stick around to see, either way.
When he left the floor toward the end of Saturday’s loss, Morant draped a towel over his head and refused to look up. After the game, he said he was “hurt” by the loss.
Yet, that’s not the final image of his collegiate career.
Morant removed the towel when teammate Mike Davis entered the game and launched a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. He held his hands in the air hoping Davis’ shot would fall.
He missed. The buzzer went off. It was all over.
“He loves to play,” Murray State coach Matt McMahon said of Morant. “He’s just a relentless competitor. He’s tough and he’s a winner.”
If Morant can showcase those attributes in the NBA, he could turn this weekend’s buzzworthy performance into a phenomenon.
After what unfolded in Hartford, Connecticut, we will all be watching.