Friday, March 14, 2025

Shaquille O’Neal Caught Off Guard by Ja Morant’s Absence in Grizzlies-Rockets Game

The second game in TNT’s Thursday night NBA doubleheader showcased the Houston Rockets facing off against the Memphis Grizzlies. Despite being shorthanded, this news caught Shaquille O’Neal off guard on Inside the NBA, particularly when he expressed anticipation for the Ja Morant-Jalen Green matchup, only to discover that Morant was unavailable.

“Well, Ja Morant’s out tonight,” host Ernie Johnson informed him. To which O’Neal responded humorously, “OK, so Ja Morant’s out. So forget that,” prompting laughter from the rest of the desk.

Morant has missed 20 games this season, although he participated in the team’s last two games. Earlier on Thursday, Drew Hill of The Daily Memphian reported that Morant “took a bump in practice yesterday and flagged the soreness this morning.” Despite this, his status remained questionable for a significant part of the day before being downgraded to doubtful just hours prior to the game. While it was a lighthearted moment, we can give Shaq some leeway; we’ve certainly witnessed worse mistakessignificantly worse errors — in the past.

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