Becoming Ja: For Morant, Dalzell, S.C., is everything
Special report: Part II of three in a series about the Grizzlies’ star point guard
Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant warms up before Game 5 of the team's NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday, June 2, 2021, in Salt Lake City. (Rick Bowmer/AP file)
Ja Morant (red and white shirt) and Kaari Jaidyn Morant attend the ceremony to retire Morant’s jersey at Crestwood High School on Dec. 7, 2021. (Micah Green/Sumter Item)
Morant family and friends at a watch party for the June 20, 2019, NBA draft react to Ja Morant’s selection. Morant was in Brooklyn, New York, for the draft. (Micah Green/Sumter Item)
Dalzell turns out for what the mayor declared “Ja Morant Day” for the former Crestwood High School Knight. (Micah Green/Sumter Item)
Ja Morant regards his framed jersey as it is retired at Crestwood High School on Dec. 7, 2021. (Cal Cary/Sumter Item)
Ja Morant speaks to the crowd on the night his Crestwood High School jersey is retired, on Dec. 7, 2021. (Cal Cary/Sumter Item)
Ja Morant shows why Dalzell named a day after him, with a dramatic dunk at Crestwood High School, where he played prep basketball. (Micah Green/Sumter Item)
Ja Morant was in Brooklyn, New York, for the NBA draft in 2019, so his family and friends had to watch on TV back in Dalzell. (Micah Green/Sumter Item)
As is traditional, Ja Morant received the key to the city on Ja Morant Day, according to the Sumter Item. (Micah Green/Sumter Item)
Ja Morant’s family and friends celebrated his selection in the 2019 NBA draft via TV. (Micah Green/The Sumter Item)
Ja Morant soars over two men on the way to a dunk on Ja Morant Day at Crestwood High School in Dalzell. (Micah Green/Sumter Item)
“Everybody who knows me knows that I’m always going to mention where I’m from with everything that I do, because everything that I do is for the place that I’m from.”
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Drew Hill
Drew Hill covers the Memphis Grizzlies and is a top-10 APSE winner. He has worked throughout the South writing about college athletics before landing in Memphis.
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