Ja Morant named as Rookie of the Year

Ja Morant was officially named as the 2019-20 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, and will receive the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy for his achievement.

He is the second player from the Memphis Grizzlies to be bestown the award, following Pau Gasol back in the 2001-02 season.

The second overall pick of the 2019 NBA Draft, Morant received 99 out of 100 first place votes from a global panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, earning a total of 498 points.

The lone first place vote that did not go to Ja went to Zion Williamson, who finished in third place with 140 points.

Finishing in second place is Kendrick Nunn, who secured 204 points.

Voting was based on games played before the NBA pressed pause on the season last March 11. Players get five points per first place vote, three points per second place vote, and a point per third place vote.

Morant led the Grizzlies, as well as all qualified rookies, in scoring (17.6 points) and assists (6.9 assists), while shooting 49.1% in 59 games.He is one of three NBA players to have those kind of numbers this season, joining LeBron James and Nikola Jokić. The Murray State alum netted eleven double-doubles, including a 27-10-10 triple-double against the Washington Wizards on February 9. He also had seven 20-point and 10-assist games, including a 27 & 14 performance against LeBron and the Lakers on February 29.

Morant also stepped up when the game matters the most, scoring 7.3 points in the fourth quarter, which is sixth in the NBA at the time the league stopped play. And among those six, he had the best fourth quarter field goal percentage at 55.9%.

Named as the Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month for October/November, December, January, and February, he joins Gasol as the only Grizzlies rookies named as Rookies of the Month at least three times. He needed just 48 games to set the franchise record by a rookie in assists.

The Grizzlies almost matched their season total in wins last season, going 32-33 after finishing last year at 33-49. By finishing in eighth place, they earned entry into the seeding round inside the NBA campus at Walt Disney World when the league decided to restart the season.