Getty Derrick Rose, Pistons
Ja Morant has been compared to Derrick Rose a ton.
Rose is a fan of the Memphis Grizzlies rookie too. “He’s leading Memphis in the right direction,” Rose told Duane Rankin of the Arizona Central.
“You can tell his teammates love playing with him because they know they will get the ball. He competes every night.”
Appearing on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, I asked Morant’s dad, Tee Morant how cool it was to receive such high praise from Rose. “That’s the surreal part,” Tee Morant tells me.
GettyJa Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies.
“To hear people that we really film studied about say great things about him, that’s a testament to how hard that dude works. So it’s special to me. Like he went and told Carmelo that my dad’s a fan. He went and told Dominique [Wilkins] and I actually got a chance to take a picture with Dominique was a blessing, so all of this was surreal to me but it’s also a blessing. Like when he worked out with Ray. That was one of the proudest moments as far as…. Because Ray is my guy – the Candyman, He’s my guy. So with him – it was crazy because it was Ray AND David Ortiz; Big Papi telling him how to move around in the professional level. So I loved it.”
For those keeping score at home: Ray Allen and Tee Morant were high school teammates at Hillcrest High School in Dalzell, South Carolina. Tee Morant played college basketball at HBCU, Claflin University in South Carolina and narrowly missed making an NBA roster.
While Tee Morant participated in free agency camps and played internationally but ended his career when he found out his wife was pregnant with Ja.
Also on the Scoop B Radio Podcast, Tee Morant revealed that Ray Allen introduced Ja Morant to David Ortiz at a private event for an unveiling of a computer lab. “He invited us and we went down there and he introduced Ja to the kids in the computer lab and we had a good time you know,” said Tee Morant.
“And then we went to Ray’s restaurant and ate and then after that, Ray took us to Big Papi house because Ray and Big Papi were cool. So Big Papi invited us with open arms talking with us and then Ray and Big Papi had a triangle session with Ray where they was telling him different stuff that he needs to look for, different things as far as being a leader, being a professional and all, and that joint did me all the good.”