Gage Johnson
Editor-in-Chief
After being the frontrunner throughout the NBA season, former Murray State guard Ja Morant has claimed the 2019-20 NBA Rookie of the Year award.
Morant was drafted at No. 2 overall by the Grizzlies in the 2019 NBA Draft and proceded to show exactly why.
The three-time Rookie of the Month led all rookies in points per game (17.8), assists per game (7.3), double-doubles (15) and triple-doubles (2). Morant appeared in 67 games this season and played 31.7 minutes per game. Morant had also set the Franchise single-season assist record and season assist average record.
The high-flying guard received 99 out of 100 first place votes, while 2019 No. 1 pick Zion Williamson of the New Orleans Pelicans finished with one first place vote. Williamson played in 24 games, averaging 22.5 points per game and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Morant joins elite company in Damian Lillard (2013) of Weber State University, Larry Johnson of UNLV (1991), David Robinson (1989) of Navy University, and Larry Bird of Indiana State University (1980), as one of only five mid-major collegiate athletes to go on to win NBA Rookie of the Year since 1979.
Morant said he hopes young athletes can view him as motivation to keep pushing despite not being highly recruited to play Division I basketball.
“For guys, kids who, you know, [are] not heavily recruited right now, this will give them a lot of hope,” Morant said on TNT.
Morant continued, saying he is extremely grateful, but knows this is just the beginning of his young career.
“This is a blessing and definitely an honor because I put in a lot of work day in and day out, but it’s all paying off,” Morant said on TNT. “I still have a lot of work to do. I always feel like there is room for improvement.”
