How a bag of chips and a tractor tire helped Ja Morant become an NBA lottery lock | E:60

I'm not going to say that I always knew I would

become

this great, but I knew I would always be a good player. There aren't that many players you can't take your eyes off. He is one of the few, but at the same time. John Morant was overlooked and the 19-year-old's rise to phenom almost never happened. They hesitated in high school. I died in college. I know there will still be some who will doubt me in the NBA coming into the league. I'm trying to make a name for myself since I put a ball in my hand like you can rarely catch it, get the ball out, I'm dribbling the ball all over the house, my dad even had to get some basketball gold to put it in the room door.

It would be like dad, you feel like you're giving me a workout, so that's what prompted me to say, "Okay, let's go." In 2009, when Job was 10 years old, his father built a basketball court in his backyard so he could train his son. "Everyone was getting on Facebook and saying we were having a basketball session in my backyard at the time. Janet probably had 50 to 60 people playing and then she was grilling for everyone who came out. It paid off. Josh was focused in basketball. But because Josh, a high school freshman, was only five-foot-seven, I was worried about his athletic ability, you know, because he wasn't dunking, so that's when I got the big track tied in. the backyard, so after every drill I made him jump on it. and his teammate zion williamson, but it was a tournament that johnny and i advanced in and i think john averaged 33 35 in that tournament, i was like your friend can't play like they don't know it yet, but he can, but as his high school career continued, no one seemed to notice that Joe was little, so it was okay, just give me four years somewhere.

At a university no one recognized me at all. I was just worried about colleges and other people thinking, am I good enough the summer before your senior year? He's barely six feet tall and weighs only 150 pounds and attends a two-day tournament hoping to finally be one. I realized I was added late to camp. It was like I didn't say your name and then I went to the other gym. They didn't call me by name, so I went to the gym loose. James Kane of Murray State University was there recruiting another player. In the main gym when he got hungry they directed him down a hallway to a food stand I ordered some Doritos and a soda I could hear the balls bouncing in the auxiliary gym I ended up poking his head in the gym and I watched for a couple minutes um I guess That's when he saw me, just a few minutes looking at Jaw, you knew he was special.

I called my boss right away and told him you have to come here and see this kid. We immediately arrived in Spartanburg the next day and was impressed by his total win on September 2, 2016, john moran committed to play d-1 college basketball at murray state, below finds johnson wide open b

lock

ed by marantz and after carrying Murray State to the NCAA Tournament as a freshman, ha, who had grown to six foot two was named team captain heading into his sophomore year over the summer. He was starting to hear that not only is he a good player, he's really good.

He had Alabama at the top of his schedule, let's see what it's like when he goes on the road and plays. At Bama in November, Josh put on a show in Tuscaloosa scoring 38 points, nine rebounds, five assists and this is what he is showing tonight after the game. I got on the bus, they were like looking at your phone, like it was at that moment where no one was. He really knew me honestly, but after that game it was different going to Moran because of the moment he became what John did. He put up ridiculous numbers and it was the way he did it along the way.

John led the nation in assists and averaged over 24 points per game, then came the NCAA Tournament on March 21, 2019. With the nation watching, Morant led 12-seeded Murray State's triple against the pass five-seeded marquette southpaw, where did that come from? You know it was the surgeon with a scalpel in each hand cutting them up 17 points 16 assists 11 rebounds it was as dominant a performance as you'll ever see in an ncaa tournament the undersized unknown kid became a household name 12 days later talking to me family, just us I decided I was going to declare for the 2019 NBA draft. I want to congratulate coach James Kane for coming to a gym and finding me and actually giving me the opportunity to play here at Murray State.

It is the best chip bag in the world. I love the life I've ever had because we mean not going down the same path, but two kids from South Carolina could get drafted, hopefully one and two, I know it's going to be emotional. My family, they all know what I've been through. To get to this point in the position I'm in now, I know, once my name is called, I'm going to walk across that stage, whatever team drafts me, I'm going to rock the commission ahead, it's going to be crazy.