The Memphis Grizzlies have honed their star duo of Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. Together, they’ve emerged as the foundation for the team, transforming the group into a playoff contender. However, Morant has run into all sorts of trouble over the past seasons, especially with the NBA. Because of this, the Grizzlies have had more time to focus on having Jackson as their top option on both ends.
In 2023, Morant got into trouble with the league because of his Instagram Live. He was investigated because he displayed a gun during his live session while he was at a nightclub in Colorado. Following that, he stepped away from the team for some time and had to undergo counseling. It was also revealed that during his time away, commissioner Adam Silver issued an eight-game suspension.
Two months after that, he was suspended from all team activities for another incident involving a live session and a gun. His punishment at that time was a 25-game suspension issued by the NBA, which he fulfilled at the start of the 2023-24 season.
During that campaign, he was limited to nine games because of the suspension and various injuries. Throughout all this, Jackson was consistently available for the Grizzlies and averaged 20 points for the first time.
This led to the question by Michelle Beadle about who among the two stars is the better player. On Thursday’s episode of FanDuel’s “Run It Back,” former NBA player Chandler Parsons gave his opinion about Memphis’ star players.
“No, Ja Morant’s the best player,” Parsons said. “Jaren Jackson might be the most valuable, just ’cause of what he does defensively and shot blocking, things like that. But Morant’s the best player.”
Has Jaren Jackson surpassed Ja Morant as the best player on the Grizzlies? 🧐@MichelleDBeadle says it’s a conversation to be had 👀
What do you think?@MichelleDBeadle | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/2h91SNtBSj
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) April 4, 2025
Parsons added that in the long run, Jackson might have a better career than Morant. However, he reiterated that Morant is still the better player.
The league issues a warning for the Memphis Grizzlies star
On Tuesday, the Memphis Grizzlies suffered a 134-125 defeat against the Golden State Warriors. During the final 20 seconds of the game, Warriors’ Buddy Hield taunted Morant, using gun gestures, while Jimmy Butler was shooting his free throws.
After Butler made a shot from the charity stripe, Morant went back at Hield and did the gun celebration. This became an issue in the league given his history of being suspended because of having guns in his livestream.
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, the NBA did not suspend or issue a fine for the players involved. However, they gave a warning to Hield and Morant for doing the action.
However, that didn’t stop Morant from doing the same gesture during Memphis’ game against the Miami Heat.
Ja Morant brought out the finger gun gesture after making this three during Grizzlies-Heat.
Earlier today, the NBA gave Morant and Warriors guard Buddy Hield a warning about doing this celebration.pic.twitter.com/CFoiu8wDDz https://t.co/qg2KIVS9dN
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) April 4, 2025
The league has not released a statement regarding Morant bringing back the celebration.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
