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Welcome back to your Grizzlies Insider, where the season has begun and we deliver the latest NBA news and analysis straight to your inbox twice a week.
It’s a special day for a staple on the Grizzlies sideline.
Tee Morant, the father of star point guard Ja Morant, is celebrating his birthday on Monday.
Tee, who trained Morant in his early playing days, attends every Grizzlies home game and sits courtside to cheer on his son. Since following Ja to Memphis two years ago, he’s become one of the most recognizable Memphis fans.
“I can hear him the whole game,” Ja Morant said. “He’s always talking to the players, and talking to the refs. Obviously, because of my relationships with some of the players, he knows them as well. But, he don’t stop talking. I’m pretty sure everybody on the other team and the refs get tired of him talking. He might get ejected before I do this season.”
So, of course, he will be at the game on Monday night.
“He’s on the way back from New Orleans,” Ja Morant said Monday morning. “If I see him when I get home I might punch him a couple of times.
“There’s going to be a celebration. He’ll probably be pretty turnt up on the sideline tonight. Y’all stay tuned.”
The younger Morant hopes to snap the Grizzlies’ three-game losing streak on Monday night and gift his dad a win.
“It would only be right,” Ja Morant said. “What’s crazy is he was a big fan of Olajuwan when he played for the Rockets. And now on his birthday we are playing the Rockets.”
 Tee Morant father of Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant watches action against the Utah Jazz during game four of the NBA Playoffs on Monday, May 31, 2021. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)
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 New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson (1) is defended by Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant (12) during the first quarter of an NBA basketball game in New Orleans, Saturday, Feb. 6, 2021. (AP file/Derick Hingle)
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