Ja Morant Leaves Grizzlies vs. Hawks After Suffering Knee Injury

The Memphis Grizzlies announced that point guard Ja Morant will not return to his team's home game against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday after suffering a left knee injury.

The team later announced Morant has been diagnosed with a sprained knee, per ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.

Morant appeared to suffer the injury on a non-contact play with 3:12 remaining in the first quarter:

Morant was then helped back to the locker room as he avoided putting pressure on his left leg.

The 22-year-old South Carolina native quickly established himself among the NBA's next wave of superstars by winning 2019-20 Rookie of the Year honors after the Grizzlies selected him with the second overall pick in the 2019 draft. He built off that success by averaging 19.1 points, 7.4 assists and 4.0 rebounds last season.

Morant entered Friday with 25.3 points, 7.1 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game so far during the 2021-22 campaign.

The Murray State product remained mostly durable throughout his first two NBA seasons, though he missed a bit of time both years with minor back and ankle injuries.

While a potential Morant absence is obviously a concern for Memphis, the team does feature some depth in the backcourt. Tyus Jones and Ziaire Williams should both get some extra minutes until the franchise cornerstone returns to the lineup.

Jones substituted in for Morant on Friday.

That said, even though the Grizzlies have the talent to overcome a short-term injury for Morant, any type of extended absence would be a significant blow to the team's playoff aspirations.