Ja Morant’s emotional first message since season ending surgery

Grizzlies star Ja Morant posted his first public message since undergoing season ending surgery for his right shoulder. In an Instagram story, Morant posted a photo of himself in a hospital bed following the procedure along with a blue heart emoji, a person in lotus pose emoji, a checkmark emoji and an hourglass emoji.

The 24 year old also accompanied it with a caption. “What you went thru has a purpose. So does your life. Focus on your life’s purpose and you will get thru this trying time,” he wrote. Morant had suffered a subluxation of his right shoulder during a training session Saturday, and an MRI later revealed an underlying labral tear that required surgery, the Grizzlies announced Monday.

The surgery ended Morant’s season after just nine games, but he is expected to be fully recovered by the start of the 2024 25 NBA season, the team said Thursday . A suspension handed down by the NBA this past summer had already cost Morant the first 25 games of the season. The league banished him for the lengthy period after he brandished a firearm during an Instagram Live video, marking his second such incident with a weapon last year.

He was booed during his first game back when the Grizzlies played the Pelicans at Smoothie King Center in New Orleans on Dec. 26, a game in which Morant scored a season high 34 points and hit a buzzer beating shot to win the contest . In the nine games he played, Morant averaged 25.1 points, 8.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds while shooting 47.1 percent from the field.

Morant was given a bit of a hero’s welcome when he made his Memphis debut at FedExForum a few nights later in his first home game of the year. The 24 year old is in the first year of a five year, $197 million maximum contract extension..