Ja Morant Believes Grizzlies Were Favorites Over Warriors

The Golden State Warriors burned through the Western Conference on their way to another championship this past June, going through Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies on their way there. While Morant suffered an injury at the end of Game 3 that caused him to miss the remainder of that series, Golden State was blowing Memphis out in that contest, making it a tough argument that his injury changed the outcome of the series.
In a recent interview, Morant suggested that was indeed the case, stating that it was the Grizzlies' year last season, and his injury took that away.
"It was pretty much our year, but that injury cause me to be out," Morant said. "And now you have to change lineups and you know guys playing without me. I feel like that’s the most frustrating part for me. You know, being out there and not being able to compete."
Speaking specifically about that Western Conference Semi-Finals series between Memphis and Golden State, Morant said, "I felt like, me personally and my teammates, we were the favorites in that series."
While they did have home-court advantage, Memphis was never going to have the best player in that series, which is always tough to overcome. For that reason, they were likely not the favorites; however, it is understandable why Ja is frustrated he could not finish the series.
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Joey Linn is a credentialed writer covering the NBA and WNBA for On SI. Covering the LA Clippers independently in 2018, then for Fansided and 213Hoops from 2019-2021, Joey joined On SI to cover the Clippers after the 2020-21 season. Graduating from Biola University in 2022 with a Communication Studies degree, Joey served as Biola's play-by-play announcer for their basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. Joey's work on Biola's broadcasts and in the classroom earned him the Outstanding Communication Studies Student of the year award in 2022. Joey covers the NBA full-time, primarily serving as a Clippers beat writer.
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