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Grizzlies guard Ja Morant continues to prove he's the best show in the NBA

Benyam Kidane

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Grizzlies guard Ja Morant continues to prove he's the best show in the NBA image

A handful of players in the NBA make you pause and rewind the TV in disbelief, drop highlights in the group chat and make sure your eyes are believing what they're seeing.

Memphis Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant's breakout campaign is not only vaulting his team up the standings, but he's putting on a show every single night.

Is there a more entertaining player in the NBA?

Steph Curry, James Harden, Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nikola Jokic, LeBron James and Kevin Durant among others sit firmly in a group of the best players, but Morant's nightly highlight show has quickly vaulted him into that realm of must-see TV.

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Leading the Memphis Grizzlies to a huge 116-110 road win over the Chicago Bulls, Morant turned in one of his best performances of the season against arguably the league's hottest team.

The All-Star guard poured in a career-high 46 points on 15-of-28 shooting and 3-of-4 from the 3-point line, adding four rebounds and three assists, to help snap Chicago's six-game win streak,

Tonight's performance is his fifth 40-point game of the season and the most points by a Grizzlies player in a regular season game in franchise history.

“I seen the Michael Jordan video they played in the timeout and it got me going.” Morant said postgame of what helped fuel his scoring outburst.

While his 46 points is a career-high, it was a loud 46, with enough highlights from one game to create a solo mixtape.

Let's start with his 360 spin layup in the second quarter. 

With only DeMar DeRozan standing in between him and the rim, Morant contorts his body at lighting speed, oh so smoothly to turn a contested shot into a clean reverse layup.

In the third quarter, on a 3-on-3 fastbreak, Morant freezes three Bulls defenders with his slick handle, giving him just enough time to fly to the cup for the easy lay-in.

The third quarter belonged to Morant as he scored 20 of his 46 in the period, capping things off with the emphatic one-handed alley-oop flush. 

On the way to NBA All-Star Weekend in a limousine, Morant called out the Grizzlies' lack of primetime games, having just seven on national TV this season, compared to the big market teams in the Lakers (29), Warriors (28) and Nets (25). 

"ESPN, y’all gotta start putting more Grizzlies games on national television!” he said.

As they continue to solidify themselves as one of the best teams in the league this season, sitting third in the Western Conference (42-20), Morant's high-flying, ankle-breaking, dime-dropping displays are more than enough reason to tune in to the best show in the league.

Benyam Kidane

Benyam Kidane Photo

Benyam Kidane is a senior NBA editor and has been covering the league for The Sporting News since 2016. In his spare time you can find him watching Allen Iverson highlights on repeat.