Well deserved young Grizzly, well deserved.
Memphis Grizzlies’ rookie Ja Morant has been named the 2019-20 Kia NBA Rookie of the Year, the NBA announced today. The 6-3 guard is the second player to win the Rookie of the Year Award with the Grizzlies, joining Pau Gasol (2001-02).
Morant received 99 first-place votes from a global panel of 100 sportswriters and broadcasters and earned 498 total points. Miami Heat guard Kendrick Nunn finished in second place with 204 points. New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson received one first-place vote and finished in third place with 140 points.
Players were awarded five points for each first-place vote, three points for each second-place vote and one point for each third-place vote. The voting was conducted based on regular-season games played through March 11. The seeding games, which were played July 30 – Aug. 14 as part of the season restart, did not count toward voting for the Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award or the league’s other traditional end-of-season awards.
From the beginning of the season through March 11, Morant led all qualified NBA rookies in scoring (17.6 ppg) and assists (6.9 apg) and shot 49.1 percent from the field in 59 games. During that period, Morant was one of three NBA players to average at least 17.0 points and 6.0 assists and shoot 49.0 percent or better from the field, joining 2020 NBA All-Stars LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers and Nikola Jokić of the Denver Nuggets.
In games played through March 11, Morant recorded a rookie-high 11 double-doubles and produced the only triple-double by a rookie when he finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists against the Washington Wizards on Feb. 9. He had at least 20 points and 10 assists in seven games, including a 27-point, 14-assist performance against the Lakers on Feb. 29.
Morant excelled late in games, ranking sixth in the NBA in fourth-quarter scoring average (7.3 ppg) in games played through March 11. Of the top six players in that category, Morant had the highest fourth-quarter field goal percentage (55.9).
Honored as the Kia NBA Western Conference Rookie of the Month in October/November, December and January, Morant joined Gasol as the only rookies in Grizzlies history to earn monthly accolades three or more times. Morant, the No. 2 overall pick in NBA Draft 2019 presented by State Farm, also broke the franchise rookie record for total assists in a season, reaching the milestone in his 48th game.
With Morant leading the team in points and assists, the Grizzlies posted a 32-33 record in games played through March 11 and began the season restart in eighth place in the Western Conference. In last season’s 82-game schedule, Memphis went 33-49 and finished tied for 12th place in the conference.
Morant, who turned 21 in August, receives the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the Kia NBA Rookie of the Year. Gottlieb, one of the NBA’s founders and a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, coached the Philadelphia Warriors to the 1946-47 championship in the league’s first season.
| VOTING RESULTS: 2019-20 KIA NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD | ||||
| Player (Team) | 1st Place Votes (5 Points) | 2nd Place Votes (3 Points) | 3rd Place Votes (1 Point) | Total Points |
| Ja Morant (Memphis) | 99 | 1 | 0 | 498 |
| Kendrick Nunn (Miami) | 0 | 56 | 36 | 204 |
| Zion Williamson (New Orleans) | 1 | 37 | 24 | 140 |
| Brandon Clarke (Memphis) | 0 | 6 | 32 | 50 |
| Coby White (Chicago) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| Eric Paschall (Golden State) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| Terence Davis II (Toronto) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| RJ Barrett (New York) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Below is the all-time list of recipients of the Kia NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
| KIA NBA ROOKIE OF THE YEAR AWARD RECIPIENTS | ||
| 1952-53 – Don Meineke, Fort Wayne 1953-54 – Ray Felix, Baltimore 1954-55 – Bob Pettit, Milwaukee 1955-56 – Maurice Stokes, Rochester 1956-57 – Tom Heinsohn, Boston 1957-58 – Woody Sauldsberry, Philadelphia 1958-59 – Elgin Baylor, Minneapolis 1959-60 – Wilt Chamberlain, Philadelphia 1960-61 – Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati 1961-62 – Walt Bellamy, Chicago 1962-63 – Terry Dischinger, Chicago 1963-64 – Jerry Lucas, Cincinnati 1964-65 – Willis Reed, New York 1965-66 – Rick Barry, San Francisco 1966-67 – Dave Bing, Detroit 1967-68 – Earl Monroe, Baltimore 1968-69 – Wes Unseld, Baltimore 1969-70 – Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Milwaukee1970-71 – Dave Cowens, Boston (tie) Geoff Petrie, Portland (tie) 1971-72 – Sidney Wicks, Portland 1972-73 – Bob McAdoo, Buffalo 1973-74 – Ernie DiGregorio, Buffalo1974-75 – Jamaal Wilkes, Golden State1975-76 – Alvan Adams, Phoenix1976-77 – Adrian Dantley, Buffalo | 1977-78 – Walter Davis, Phoenix 1978-79 – Phil Ford, Kansas City1979-80 – Larry Bird, Boston 1980-81 – Darrell Griffith, Utah1981-82 – Buck Williams, New Jersey 1982-83 – Terry Cummings, San Diego1983-84 – Ralph Sampson, Houston1984-85 – Michael Jordan, Chicago 1985-86 – Patrick Ewing, New York 1986-87 – Chuck Person, Indiana 1987-88 – Mark Jackson, New York 1988-89 – Mitch Richmond, Golden State 1989-90 – David Robinson, San Antonio 1990-91 – Derrick Coleman, New Jersey 1991-92 – Larry Johnson, Charlotte 1992-93 – Shaquille O’Neal, Orlando 1993-94 – Chris Webber, Golden State 1994-95 – Grant Hill, Detroit (tie) Jason Kidd, Dallas (tie)1995-96 – Damon Stoudamire, Toronto 1996-97 – Allen Iverson, Philadelphia 1997-98 – Tim Duncan, San Antonio1998-99 – Vince Carter, Toronto1999-00 – Elton Brand, Chicago (tie) Steve Francis, Houston (tie) 2000-01 – Mike Miller, Orlando | 2001-02 – Pau Gasol, Memphis 2002-03 – Amar’e Stoudemire, Phoenix2003-04 – LeBron James, Cleveland2004-05 – Emeka Okafor, Charlotte2005-06 – Chris Paul, New Orleans/Oklahoma City2006-07 – Brandon Roy, Portland2007-08 – Kevin Durant, Seattle2008-09 – Derrick Rose, Chicago2009-10 – Tyreke Evans, Sacramento2010-11 – Blake Griffin, LA Clippers2011-12 – Kyrie Irving, Cleveland2012-13 – Damian Lillard, Portland 2013-14 – Michael Carter-Williams, Philadelphia2014-15 – Andrew Wiggins, Minnesota 2015-16 – Karl-Anthony Towns, Minnesota2016-17 – Malcolm Brogdon, Milwaukee2017-18 – Ben Simmons, Philadelphia2018-19 – Luka Dončić, Dallas2019-20 – Ja Morant, Memphi |
Congrats to Ja Morant for earning the 2019-20 NBA rookie of the year honors. Follow @eldorado2452 and @theseurbantimes for all your NBA and sports news.
