Herrington: Santa Ja is bringing a bagful of national TV games, and not just for Christmas
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant brings the ball up the court against the Golden State Warriors during Game 3 of the NBA’s Western Conference playoff semifinal in San Francisco on May 7, 2022. (Jeff Chiu/Associated Press file)
Chris Herrington
Chris Herrington has covered the Memphis Grizzlies, in one way or another, since the franchise’s second season in Memphis, while also writing about music, movies, food and civic life. As far as he knows, he’s the only member of the Professional Basketball Writers Association who is also a member of a film critics group and has also voted in national music critic polls for Rolling Stone and the Village Voice (RIP). He and his wife have two kids and, for reasons that sometimes elude him, three dogs.
Economists call it a leading indicator. Movie exhibitors, a preview of coming attractions.
The Grizzlies’ long-desired, franchise-first inclusion on the NBA’s high-profile Christmas Day lineup — news that leaked out a few days ago in what’s become a rather tiresome multiple-day build up to Wednesday’s full NBA schedule release — was big news that suggested more to come.
“More” came in the form of 18 scheduled national TV games — ESPN, TNT or ABC — for the 2022-2023 NBA season, a number that obliterates the previous franchise high of 10 in much the way Ja Morant obliterates backpedaling big men en route to the rim.
These 18 Grizzlies national TV games are more than the franchise received in the previous five seasons combined. It’s more this season than the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Chicago Bulls or Miami Heat.
Only four of these 18 will come at FedExForum, which merely ties a franchise record. This includes the home opener against the Knicks on Oct. 19 and the annual MLK Day showcase, this time against the Phoenix Suns on TNT. There will be an ESPN playoff rematch at FedExForum with the Minnesota Timberwolves on Nov. 11 and an in-Memphis rematch with the Golden State Warriors on TNT on March 9.
Otherwise, the Ja Morant Show will be on tour, boosting the appeal of national TV games from coast to coast, though mostly on the West Coast. Twice this season, the Grizzlies will go on western road trips in which they’ll be on national television for three consecutive games.
Most national TV games this season:
- Golden State Warriors — 30
- Los Angeles Lakers — 27
- Boston Celtics — 25
- Philadelphia 76ers — 24
- Milwaukee Bucks — 23
- Phoenix Suns — 23
- Dallas Mavericks — 21
- Los Angeles Clippers — 20
- Memphis Grizzlies — 18
- Denver Nuggets — 17
As much as fans may want to consider it in such terms, the NBA’s Christmas slate isn’t about respect, bestowed or denied at whim. It’s just a cold calculation by the league and its TV partners: Which 10 NBA teams matter most to the wider viewing world each season? Who will bring the most eyeballs?
Some wondered if the Grizzlies’ place as Christmas Day opponents for the defending champion Golden State Warriors was a reaction to a rare, real NBA rivalry. To competitive postseason battles between these teams two years in a row. To the hottest, most-contested games the Warriors played on the way to their return title. To verbal and social media back-and-forth both playful (Draymond Green and Morant) and not so much (Klay Thompson and Jaren Jackson Jr.).
Were the Grizzlies just riding the Warriors’ coattails onto a Christmas Day debut? The Generals to Golden State’s Globetrotters, minus guaranteed outcome? Handpicked opponent by the only team that matters?
These factors may be why the Grizzlies are playing the Warriors on Christmas Day instead of the Mavericks or Suns. It is not why they are there to begin with. “Eighteen” is a persuasive counter, a bet placed on the team’s wider marketability.
Most national TV games, Grizzlies history:
| Season | National TV Games | Home National TV Games |
| 2022-2023 | 18 | 4 |
| 2015-2016 | 10 | 3 |
| 2012-2013 | 8 | 4 |
| 2021-2022 | 7 | 4 |
| 2013-2014 | 6 | 3 |
What makes a team matter to the most fans? Market size is an unavoidable part of this. Local fans watch national games too, and there are more of them in New York and Los Angeles than in Memphis and Oklahoma City.
Success matters. The defending champs, even if they’re coming from somewhere like Milwaukee or San Antonio, will get on national television.
And in a sport where individual players mean more than in any other, stardom matters. A lot.
The essential story of this year’s NBA schedule for the Memphis Grizzlies: The triumph of stardom over market size.
Memphis lost JaRaffe this summer. Santa Ja replaced him.
While the team’s on-court success is a factor here, consider it a necessary but not sufficient condition for such a season-long showcase.
Early news about Christmas Day was a crack in the dam. On Wednesday afternoon came the flood. And it’s the presence of Morant that let the waters loose.
In terms of on-court accomplishment — and it’s to his credit that this is still what matters most — Morant has franchise mountains yet to climb.
He finished higher in the MVP race last season than any Grizzly before. But Marc Gasol beat him to an All-Star starting nod, and Morant’s still chasing Big Spain for a first-team All-NBA honor.
Morant was all of 21 when he seized the franchise record with a 47-point playoff game, only 22 when he notched the franchise’s first 50-point game a few months later. But he was still three playoff wins short of taking the Grizzlies further than any previous player had. That seems likely to come in due time.
Bringing Grizzlies basketball into more living rooms and onto more electronic devices across the country and across the globe than ever before? This season Morant plants the flag.
And this isn’t a big surprise. It had been building.
In grousing about the slow-trickle game-by-game schedule reporting, NBA podcaster/superfan Bill Simmons mentioned the Grizzlies among a handful of teams assumed to be all over the TV schedule this season.
When did the NBA schedule release become a 5-day event? Wait, lemme guess, the Warriors, Celtics, Bucks, Lakers, Sixers, Grizzlies and Knicks are gonna be on national TV a lot.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) August 16, 2022
Last spring’s ESPN All-Access day on ESPN was another leading indicator.
Morant’s already appeared in more national advertisements than all previous Grizzlies combined. He finished among the league’s top 10 last season in both the fan’s vote for the All-Star game and in reported NBA jersey sales.
By some measures, he was among the league leaders in social media impact, trailing only longtime superstars Stephen Curry and LeBron James in regular season views on NBA social media platforms, then topping Curry midway through the playoffs after Morant’s first-round detonation dunk over Minnesota guard Malik Beasley went viral.
Stars can transcend place, and carry places on a wild ride with them. Memphis is now on this particular magic carpet ride for the first time.
So is this schedule, with its Christmas Day showcase against the champs, with its MLK Day showcase on TNT, with its franchise record number of national TV games, the moment of arrival for Ja Morant’s Grizzlies or the ripples of last season’s landing?
That’s just semantics. But what’s clear is this: With arrival comes expectation.
The Grizzlies and their fans like playing the underdog. “We don’t get no respect” is a badge of identity. Come playoff time, depending on the matchup, that stance may be available again. Morant is a good fit for his fan base in his dedication and creativity in finding this form of motivation.
But right now? As a new season looms? Respect is plentiful.
Can Morant stay healthy and put on a show in most of these games? (He missed the ESPN All-Access game, remember.) Can the Grizzlies, amid veteran departure and injury, maintain their place in the Western Conference contenders circle?
The NBA is betting that Morant and the Grizzlies will be one of the league’s marquee attractions this season. It’s a new challenge for the franchise, and a welcome one. Now they have to live up to the build up.
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