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Welcome back, fans, to the Grizzlies Insider, where you can find the latest NBA news and analysis from Daily Memphian staffers Drew Hill, Chris Herrington and Geoff Calkins.
Ja Morant was really nice about it. Probably nicer than everyone expected.
Over the weekend, the rookie learned who was the single voter who did not select him as the rookie of the year. His name is Joe Cowley, and he’s a columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Instead, Cowley voted for Pelicans forward Zion Williamson.
As everyone expected, Grizzlies fans let the Chicagoan hear it, blitzing him online with a barrage of insults and jokes that continued throughout the weekend.
Morant, however, took the high road.
Then Cowley responded, with this: “Ja is a transcendent player- no arguing that. But the ROTY should go to the most impactful. The NBA built a TV schedule around Zion and expanded a bubble for Zion. His 24 games were must-see TV. I’ll take that 24-and change PER and stand on that side of history.”
Which is a perfectly fine answer if it wasn’t so outrageously preposterous.
To start: If Cowley’s vote was really about impact, wouldn’t the player (Morant) who played 58 games pre-bubble be more impactful to his team than the player who played 19 games (Williamson)?
If the vote was about impact, wouldn’t the player who took his team — picked 27th in the preseason — to one game shy of the playoffs be more impactful than the player whose underachieving team was already in the playoff hunt without him?
If the vote was about impact, wouldn’t the player with the higher usage rate and more minutes, on a team with a better record, be more impactful than the player who couldn’t stay in decent enough shape to keep him on the floor?
The argument simply doesn’t make sense.
Was Williamson must-watch television? Sure.
Did the NBA build its schedule around Williamson? No doubt.
Was he great in the few games he did play? Yes!
But if the argument for selecting Williamson as rookie of the year is really about off-the-floor impact and eyeballs on TV, the league might as well give LeBron James every award every season.
If the vote was truly about impact — measurable, visible, on-floor impact — than there was only one correct vote. That was Morant.
Ninety-nine percent of voters agreed. Cowley, who Morant told to “have a blessed day,” did not.
More from your Insider:
The Grizzlies and Jaren Jackson Jr. are doing their part to help the NBA’s voting initiative.
The NBA released the voting results, and now we know who didn’t pick the Memphis Grizzlies star as rookie of the year.
The new Memphis assistant used concepts from the Celtics while building a successful college program.
Yurtseven is disappointed he hasn’t had the chance to show teams what he can do behind the 3-point line, since interviews have replaced demonstrations.
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