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Taylor Jenkins: Ja Morant will be back this season

Drew Hill: Taylor Jenkins did not give a timeline for Ja Morant’s return. I followed up as and if it will be this season (obvious question, just making sure it got asked). He said it absolutely will be this season. He also expects Desmond Bane to be the secondary ball handler now.
Source: Twitter @DrewHill_DM

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Drew Hill @DrewHill_DM
Ja Morant is here at Grizzlies practice now on crutches pic.twitter.com/57jE9tmQhp2:59 PM

Emiliano Carchia @Sportando
Grizzlies’ Ja Morant suffers knee sprain sportando.basketball/en/grizzlies-j…8:25 AM

Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Ja Morant suffered knee sprain, Grizzlies announce, will miss time nba.nbcsports.com/2021/11/27/ja-…2:31 AM

Drew Hill @DrewHill_DM
Give me your Ja Morant injury status relief gifs. pic.twitter.com/ONNB0l6lIl11:58 PM

Peter Edmiston @peteredmiston
Ja Morant news is phenomenal compared with what it looked like it might be. A left knee sprain is the initial diagnosis after imaging, which will keep him out for some weeks, you’d expect. But hopefully not months, or the season, which certainly looked possible. – 11:58 PM

Ja Morant @JaMorant
appreciate da love & prayers 🖤🤞🏽 – 11:54 PM

Sean Highkin @highkin
Just got an email about Ja Morant from the Grizzlies – 11:54 PM

Ja Morant @JaMorant
God da greatest – 11:54 PM

Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes
Ja Morant suffered a left knee sprain upon preliminary imagining, according to the Memphis Grizzlies. More details to come later. – 11:53 PM

JD Shaw @JShawNBA
The Memphis Grizzlies say preliminary imaging on Ja Morant revealed a knee sprain. – 11:52 PM

Shams Charania @ShamsCharania
Grizzlies’ Ja Morant has left knee sprain, per initial exams. – 11:52 PM

Adrian Wojnarowski @wojespn
Ja Morant has a left knee sprain, team says. – 11:52 PM

Memphis Grizzlies PR @GrizzliesPR
The @Memphis Grizzlies provided the following medical update on Ja Morant: pic.twitter.com/e3g8OuQX3h11:51 PM

Ja Morant @JaMorant
⏳🥷🏽 – 11:25 PM

Ja Morant @JaMorant
blessed 🙏🏽 – 11:25 PM

Meghan Triplett @Meghan_Triplett
“…Seeing the way that [Ja Morant] went off the floor, you know, kind of sent shockwaves through the team…”
“So definitely, you know, the mojo was kind of lost.”
-Coach Jenkins on Ja Morant’s injury – 10:37 PM

Meghan Triplett @Meghan_Triplett
“All we know right now is it’s an injury to his left knee…”
-Coach Jenkins on Ja Morant injury
Jenkins added that Ja will get imaging done and that he is praying and hoping for the best. – 10:34 PM

Joe Mullinax @sbnGrizzlies
Ja Morant exited tonight’s game with a left knee injury. He’ll be getting a MRI to diagnose the severity of the injury. That and more in tonight’s quick recap of the game: https://t.co/DFLppRvv7i pic.twitter.com/pqkRTKU20p10:26 PM

Ja Morant @JaMorant
🖤🙏🏽 pic.twitter.com/d3W27UOCfQ10:22 PM

Chris Haynes @ChrisBHaynes
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant will undergo an MRI tonight on his left knee to determine severity of injury, league sources tell @YahooSports. – 10:14 PM

Jeff Stotts @InStreetClothes
Re: Ja Morant: No obvious MOI but he appears to be favoring medial aspect of knee (MCL/medial meniscus?). He does have a history of loose bodies in the knee, having undergone a previous scope on the opposite knee. – 9:49 PM

Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Grizzlies’ Ja Morant leaves game with ugly knee injury nba.nbcsports.com/2021/11/26/gri…9:42 PM

Meghan Triplett @Meghan_Triplett
Ja Morant has returned to the bench. He is in black sweats. – 9:40 PM

The Vertical @YahooSportsNBA
Grizzlies Ja Morant left tonight’s game against the Atlanta Hawks late in the first quarter after appearing to suffer a knee injury.
➡️ https://t.co/85QurzteKu pic.twitter.com/M8CRWC07dE9:26 PM

Drew Hill @DrewHill_DM
I know everybody is hoping @Ja Morant is going to be okay.
dailymemphian.com/section/sports…9:23 PM

Peter Edmiston @peteredmiston
Grizzlies calling it a left knee injury for Ja Morant, who won’t return tonight. Worst case scenario would be an Achilles, so the fact that it’s not listed as an ankle injury might be a tiny bit of good news. I’m reaching here, to be fair. – 9:00 PM

Michael C. Wright @mikecwright
Oh, they’re saying left knee injury for Ja Morant. He will not return to this one. – 8:59 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Grizzlies announced Ja Morant is OUT for the rest of the night with a left knee injury. – 8:59 PM

Chris Herrington @ChrisHerrington
Ja Morant has a left knee injury and will not return to the game. – 8:59 PM

Michael C. Wright @mikecwright
Hoping that’s just a minor ankle injury for Ja Morant. – 8:57 PM

Michael Scotto @MikeAScotto
Ja Morant left tonight’s game and was helped to the locker room. Morant has been playing at an All-Star level for the Grizzlies ranking eighth in points (25.3), ninth in player efficiency rating (24.9), and 11th in assists (7.1) and steals (1.7) per game. pic.twitter.com/NSZFIwcKhg8:52 PM

Jeff Eisenband @JeffEisenband
Ja Morant gets stepped on right foot, but looks like his injury is to his left leg/ankle/knee. pic.twitter.com/NOZs2HBf9A8:40 PM

Sean Cunningham @SeanCunningham
Ja Morant exits the game with an injury. Hope this isn’t serious. Kings play in Memphis on Sunday.
pic.twitter.com/9u4GTi6kGk8:36 PM

Kevin Chouinard @KLChouinard
Ja Morant’s injury was kind of a weird one. Collins moved over to double him on defense, Ja looked like he stepped on Collins’ foot with his right foot but as he was hopping to his left foot and he seemed to be grabbing his left knee as a result. – 8:35 PM

Tim MacMahon @espn_macmahon
Grizzlies star Ja Morant got helped to the locker room, putting no pressure on his left leg. He limped off the floor in the middle of a play in obvious pain. – 8:32 PM

Peter Edmiston @peteredmiston
Oh no, Ja Morant looked like he twisted his ankle then immediately hobbled off the court and is headed to the locker room. – 8:29 PM

Chris Vernon @ChrisVernonShow
nooooooooooo Ja Morant was just carried to the locker room. – 8:29 PM

Joe Mullinax @sbnGrizzlies
Ja Morant is heading back to the locker room… not entirely sure what happened pic.twitter.com/HXC9apqViI8:28 PM

Meghan Triplett @Meghan_Triplett
Ja Morant just limped to the bench. He is down on the ground. Looks like it’s his left ankle. – 8:28 PM

Peter Edmiston @peteredmiston
Is there a rule prohibiting Ja Morant from doing anything offensively? Never seen the Grizzlies go out of their way to avoid him like they have so far tonight. – 8:26 PM

Chris Herrington @ChrisHerrington
Ja Morant setting a high pick for Jaren Jackson Jr. Haven’t seen that much. Jaren got tot eh rim and scored. – 8:16 PM

Kevin Chouinard @KLChouinard
Kevin Huerter is getting the first crack at guarding Ja Morant. – 8:13 PM

Drew Hill @DrewHill_DM
I’ve got a quick break so @Chris Herrington is covering the game tonight.
Working on some more good Grizz stuff. In the meantime, a feature on the city’s star of the show, Ja Morant: dailymemphian.com/section/sports…7:48 PM

Joe Mullinax @sbnGrizzlies
Ja Morant with some outside work in the corner pocket before tonight’s game pic.twitter.com/amb0XrSTvE7:28 PM

More on this storyline

Adrian Wojnarowski: More testing to come on Ja Morant’s left knee and that’ll give the Grizzlies a clearer sense of the sprain’s severity. Once that’s done, Memphis will know better a timetable on a return. Morant’s had a monster season — and he will be back to complete it. -via Twitter @wojespn / November 27, 2021

Said Memphis forward Jaren Jackson Jr. said: “It’s just tough when you see stuff like that. It’s just nothing you want to see in the game.” After the loss, Morant posted a statement on social media that read: “It’s in God’s hands now. All we can do is pray.” -via ESPN / November 27, 2021

Chris Herrington: Anything at this point on Morant’s status is speculation, but Jaren Jackson Jr.’s mood, postgame, suggests he doesn’t think it’s a small thing. -via Twitter @ChrisHerrington / November 27, 2021