{"id":422209,"date":"2026-01-19T00:20:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T00:20:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/422209\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T00:20:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T00:20:07","slug":"grizzlies-star-ja-morant-says-hes-a-very-loyal-guy-and-cites-his-tattoo-of-team-logo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/422209\/","title":{"rendered":"Grizzlies star Ja Morant says he’s a very loyal guy and cites his tattoo of team logo"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON (AP) \u2014 Ja Morant says there should be no doubt about his desire to keep playing for the Memphis Grizzlies.<\/p>\n

After a dominant performance in a 126-109 victory<\/a> over the Orlando Magic, the two-time All Star addressed recent trade speculation about him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a logo on my back, so that should tell you exactly where I want to be,\u201d Morant said, referring to a tattoo of the team logo.<\/p>\n

Morant had 24 points and 13 assists in his return to the lineup Sunday after a six-game absence because of a right calf injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anybody in here knows me \u2014 I\u2019m a very loyal guy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Morant’s return provided an instant boost for a team that needed it. The Grizzlies’ win was just their third in the past 10 games.<\/p>\n

After sitting out the first game of a European doubleheader \u2014 the Magic won 118-111 in Berlin<\/a> on Thursday \u2014 Morant was appreciative of the fan support he received in London.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust being able to play basketball \u2014 it\u2019s very therapeutic for me,\u201d he said. “I know what I’m capable of out there on the court and I was able to show that tonight.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was big-time, walking off and representing Memphis is what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Memphis built a 33-point lead in the first half \u2014 and this time held on for the win. The Grizzlies blew a 20-point lead in the loss in Berlin.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s just credit to coach putting us in the best spots possible and then just me being Ja and wind up making the right play whether it\u2019s passing or scoring,\u201d he said. \u201cWe got into a great rhythm early, got a big lead, after that it’s just managing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old Morant is making about $39.4 million this season and is in the third year of a five-year, $197.2 million contract.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP NBA: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nba<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONDON (AP) \u2014 Ja Morant says there should be no doubt about his desire to keep playing for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":422210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[141525,5930,125041,141524,3979,64,63,590,85],"class_list":["post-422209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ap-online-sports-headlines","tag-ap-top-news","tag-ap-top-news-l-twc-regions","tag-ap-top-news-sports","tag-associated-press","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=422209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/422209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/422210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=422209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=422209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=422209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}