Ja Morant is back like he never left.
The Memphis Grizzlies star showed zero signs of rust in his first outing on the back of a 25-game suspension on Tuesday night, scoring 34 points while grabbing six rebounds and dishing out eight assists in a 115-113 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Morant would also score the game-winning shot, spinning into multiple defenders to secure a difficult make as the clock expired.
The star point guard, who scored 14 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, had a message for everyone after his incredible performance
“I kept receipts too,” he yelled as he ran to the locker room.
Click on ‘Follow Us’ and get notified of the most viral NBA stories via Google! Follow Us
Morant, who was suspended for showing up in an Instagram Live video with what appeared to be a gun, having already served an eight-game ban for pretty much the same thing two months earlier, said he had a lot of time to think about his life but was happy to be back on the court.
“I’m a dog, I put work in day out, I’ve been putting work in, I haven’t played a game in eight months, had a lot of time to learn my life, a lot of hard days that I went through it but basketball is my life, it’s what I love it’s therapeutic, I’m just excited to be back,” he said in his postgame interview.
The Grizzlies, who lost 19 of the 25 games Morant missed, will be thrilled to have him back as well. They play the Indiana Pacers at home on Thursday night.
