Ja Morant leaned over the edge of the enclosure and carefully extended his hand toward his new friend.

Ja Raffe, the Memphis Zoo’s 10-day-old giraffe calf named after the Memphis Grizzlies star point guard, looked in Morant’s direction and froze. He was suspicious.

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“I don’t know if my son is rocking with me,” said Morant, still eagerly trying to encourage the calf to come closer.

Ja Raffe wasn’t moving. He was perfectly comfortable keeping his distance from Morant and the crowd of cameras behind him. It was hard to blame him.

“You know how babies are,” Morant’s dad, Tee Morant, said. “They just like to stare.”

Besides, the two Ja’s had known each other for only a few minutes Friday morning. They were bonded by name just one day prior.

“The Memphis Zoo is a huge fan of the Memphis Grizzlies and Ja Morant,” a zoo spokesperson said Thursday. “We wanted to show our support and congratulate Ja for his NBA Rookie of the Year win by naming our new calf after him.”

The decision was met with approval by fans and Memphians everywhere, and even made several national headlines during the day on “SportsCenter” and ESPN’s “The Jump.”

“It’s funny, I woke up yesterday and I turned on the news and I heard them say there was a giraffe born and it was named after one of the Grizzlies,” said Jamie Morant, Ja’s mother. “I put my phone down and I said, ‘I know they are not about to say who I think they are!’ And then she said, ‘His name is Ja Raffe.’ I busted out laughing.

“I said to Tee, ‘You know a giraffe was born at the zoo and they named it Ja Raffe?’ We must have laughed for five minutes straight.”

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Jamie Morant then relayed the news to Ja, who quickly took to Twitter and said Ja Raffe was “born a legend.”

It’s true. According to Memphis Zoo curator Courtney Janney, Ja Raffe is the biggest baby the zoo has had in years.

At 6-foot-3, the giraffe and point guard are similar in stature (for now).

“You know, we’re about the same height,” Morant said to the giraffe. “You’ve got my neck, too. You’re definitely winning Rookie of the Year next season.”

NBA free agency began Friday, so perhaps the Grizzlies could sign Ja Raffe to a rookie deal. Scouts believe he still has plenty of room to grow. 

“You hear me!?” Morant said. “I think I’m going to adopt you.”

But maybe the two Ja’s should work on team chemistry first.

After of few failed attempts to lure the baby over to the Memphis star, Janney opened the gate and allowed Morant to go inside to meet his new “son.” This time it was the basketball player’s turn to be a little skittish.

“Look, I’m not going to lie to y’all. I’m gonna keep it real right now,” Morant said. “I’m nervous.”

Following some encouragement from the zookeepers, Morant stepped inside the enclosure and extended his arm to touch the giraffe on the nose. A friendship was immediately born.

“OK, now get in here and meet your grandbaby!” Morant said to his parents. “He’s soft, but he’s got heart. You can tell.”

One by one, the Morant family nervously approached the baby. Then Morant made Ja Raffe a promise.

“If I’m ever in the dunk contest I’m taking my son with me,” Morant said. “Got that?”

With the uncertainty of the NBA calendar, that won’t be until January 2022 at the earliest. By then, Ja Raffe could be nearly 20 feet tall. He would be quite the prop.

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In return, Ja Raffe will give Morant a painting (no, seriously, the giraffes paint) on a canvas the player signed. The painting will consist of Grizzlies colors. 

“You know, Ja Raffe was remarkably calm around him,” said Matt Thompson, deputy director of the Memphis Zoo. “I think they might have something going on there. Maybe right now it’s because he’s still 6-3 and they can look each other in the eye. I’m not sure who was intimidating who.”

A first-timer

Morant was quick to admit, he had never been to a zoo before.

On Friday, he quickly made up for lost time.

In addition to meeting Ja Raffe, the point guard strolled around several exhibits, including stops to take pictures of the lions, hippos, crocodiles and flamingos. 

It was, in essence, the textbook first-ever visit to the zoo, packed with curiosity and laughter. He asked questions at every turn, made faces with the gorillas, admired the orangutans as they swung from perch to perch and even overcame one of his biggest fears.

“NOOOOOOOO!” Morant yelled as a zoo employee tried to hand him a ball python inside the herpetarium. The 21-year-old ducked out of sight. 

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“Oh, come on,” the zoo employee responded. “I have 5-year-olds who come in here and aren’t afraid to hold this.”

Morant made his dad, Tee, hold the snake first before finally mustering the courage to stick out his arms and give it a try himself. It didn’t bite. 

Minutes later he was asking about the types of food snakes eat, and was surprised to learn that the biggest pythons could eat a small pig. 

“That was so awesome,” Thompson said of Morant’s first zoo experience. “He’s a young guy but he’s one of the biggest athletes in the world. To have him come out and be real and hang out with the animals was great.

““He kept talking about overcoming his fear of being near animals. So that was really cool to see him have a great experience here at the Memphis Zoo.””

Fittingly, Morant’s final stop was the tiger exhibit near the zoo’s exit, where the point guard flexed his passing ability to the animal kingdom.

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“You want to feed it?” a zoo employee asked Morant, then handed him a raw leg of meat and a glove to hold it. “Throw it as far as you can, try to hit the wall in the back.”

With pinpoint accuracy, Morant slung the leg sidearm exactly to the back of the wall, putting it just a few feet away from the tiger on the bounce. 

Feeding a Tiger. pic.twitter.com/bLhU5cjo3l

— Drew Hill (@DrewHill_DM) November 20, 2020

Tally the assist. He’s ready.

“Time to go to work,” Morant said, walking out. “GOD DANG I’m ready for the season to be back.”