It seems safe to say Ja Morant is having a moment.
The Memphis Grizzlies point guard is having a breakout season in his third year in the NBA. He's picking up steam in the MVP race, not to mention an endorsement from Allen Iverson. And he's lighting the NBA's social media channels on fire with highlight after highlight.
Morant's exploits reached a new high on Monday, when he dropped a career-high 52 points in a win over the San Antonio Spurs, including this absurd buzzer-beater at the end of the first half.
STOP IT, JA 😱
(via @NBATV)pic.twitter.com/EWXNnTuwI1
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) March 1, 2022
Fans apparently liked the video enough that it is now the most-watched video in the history of the NBA's Instagram account, the league revealed Wednesday. The video reportedly picked up 42.1 million views, part of more than 80 million views Morant amassed in the entire game.
Morant's 325 million views are reportedly the third-most views of any player in the NBA, behind only Stephen Curry and LeBron James. That is pretty good for a player competing in the league's smallest market.
📈 @JaMorant content from the Spurs-Grizzlies game on Monday generated record-breaking social media numbers.
The Grizzlies take on the Boston Celtics tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. ET on @NBAonTNT. pic.twitter.com/8t61hcOGtG
— NBA Communications (@NBAPR) March 2, 2022
Of course, you don't need social media engagement numbers to know that Morant seems to be turning into something special.
For the season, Morant is currently averaging 27.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 49.8 percent from the field and 33.4 percent from 3-point range. Beyond the statistics, he has become one of the most fun players in the NBA, capable of delivering poster dunks and deep 3-pointers.
That record-setting buzzer-beater might not have even been his best play of the night, as he also did this to poor Spurs center Jakob Poeltl:
As the crown jewel of the Grizzlies' young core, Morant has the team sitting in third place in the Western Conference with a 43-20 record. He earned his first NBA All-Star nod this season, and we'll have to wait and see what other hardware he picks up by the time the season's over.
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