Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant played just nine games this season. Suspended for the first 25 games of the season due to his gun video incident last year, Morant returned for just nine games before suffering a season ending shoulder injury.
One of the most popular players in the entire NBA, Morant still ranked 11th in jersey sales in the second half of this season. The NBA has released their top 15 selling jerseys in the second half of the year, and despite not playing a single game in the second half, Morant still finished 11th.
NBA says Jalen Brunson’s jersey was No. 15 in ranking of top jerseys sold in second half of the season. Knicks were in top 10 in team merchandise sales for that time period: pic.twitter.com/35w32ZWvOi
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) April 19, 2024
With the 11th place finish, Morant finished above Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokic, LaMelo Ball, and Jalen Brunson on this list. As previously mentioned, Morant is one of the most popular players in the league, and this list helps show that.
The NBA is better when Morant is healthy and on the court, which unfortunately was not very often this season. That said, the nine games that Morant did play were electric, and gave a look into what next season could be like for Memphis.
Along with Morant playing just nine games, the Grizzlies had several other key players miss significant time with injury, which led to them finishing this year well out of the playoff picture. That said, the Grizzlies expect to be back in the playoff mix next season, as they were able to develop and discover some potentially key rotation pieces alongside their core.