Ja Morant Named Unanimous NBA ROY over Zion Williamson in ESPN Survey

Last year's No. 2 overall pick Ja Morant was voted the 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year by all 70 local, national and international NBA writers and reporters polled for an ESPN survey, per ESPN's Tim Bontemps. 

The budding Memphis Grizzlies star's perfect 350 points (five points given for a first-place vote) edged out New Orleans Pelicans rookie No. 1 overall pick Zion Williamson, who earned 51 second-place votes for a total of 164 points. 

Voters have seen much more of Morant than Williamson, as the latter's NBA regular-season debut was delayed until Jan. 22 due to arthroscopic knee surgery.

Morant is averaging 17.6 points, 6.9 assists and 3.5 rebounds in 30 minutes across 59 starts. Williamson's numbers are more than comparable but from a much smaller sample size: 23.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.2 assists in 29.7 minutes across 19 starts.

Both young stars put on a show as teammates in the Rising Stars Game at All-Star Weekend in February:

Williamson's Pelicans defeated Morant's Grizzlies 139-111 on Jan. 31. Williamson led all scorers with 24 points, beginning a record-breaking 13-game streak with at least 20 points.

However, the Pelicans are looking up at the Grizzlies in the Western Conference standings. Memphis, thanks largely to Morant, have played above most expectations and sit at 32-33 in the West's eighth and final playoff spot. New Orleans is 28-36.

The NBA season was suspended on March 11 due to the coronavirus pandemic.