At the risk of Ja Morant telling me to “stay on that side” if the Memphis Grizzlies go on to have a successful season this year, I’m finding it hard to trust him or Memphis these days. That’s because of how unreliable Morant (and his body) have clearly become.

On Monday, Damichael Cole of The Commercial Appeal reported that Morant had sprained his ankle during a Sunday practice. From the outset, there was no beating around the bush regarding Morant’s injury status and a need to be proactively cautious with him. Instead of getting the day-to-day label, Morant is instead considered week-to-week. Oh, huh. OK, that timeline puts things into perspective.

Dearest readers, that means Morant is likely to miss Memphis’s entire preseason — a.k.a. the “ramp-up” period for NBA players. Given that the Grizzlies’ regular-season opener is a little over two weeks away at the time of this writing, it seems apparent the star point guard will likely miss meaningful games that count in the standings, too.

MORANT INJURY UPDATE: When should we expect the Grizzlies star’s return?

If I’m being candid, this situation feels a little too on-brand for the Grizzlies’ talisman. The issue with Morant is that this lack of availability is nothing new.

Morant’s high-flying play style, where he often throws himself at the rim with reckless abandon because he’s such a ridiculous athlete, inherently lends itself to these kinds of injuries. Just last postseason, Morant missed the Grizzlies’ final home playoff game because he injured his hip while going for a monster finish in transition. This was interesting because Morant had previously stated that he doesn’t want to go for highlight dunks anymore, as it’s too dangerous to his health.

It’s easy to say you’re going to be careful, but I guess sometimes you get caught up in the emotions of the moment!

Morant’s other problem isn’t even related to his absurd athleticism that puts his health in danger. It’s that, one way or another, he appears to always be dealing with some sort of injury from bog-standard attrition related to basketball. I don’t think I need to explain why that’s problematic for a player who is supposed to be the face of the Grizzlies’ franchise, but I’ll make an attempt anyway.

For one, look at this extended Morant injury history compiled by Fox Sports from last season. Suffice it to say, I did not expect to scroll nearly that much. If Morant isn’t hurting his hip, he’s tweaking an ankle. If he’s not doing that, he has a shoulder problem, or he’s sick, or something is wrong with his hamstring, or he needs surgery seemingly out of the blue. On a macro level, it’s evident to me that Morant can barely go several weeks, if that, without getting hurt.

In the context of a supposed franchise player who needs to be available for his team over an arduous 82-game season, this is a BIG deal.

NBA WIN TOTALS: Betting market was already down on Grizzlies before Ja Morant’s injury

To be clear, I don’t like that I’ve come to this conclusion about Morant. And I don’t like that I feel this way about the Grizzlies, either, who I feel have a very underrated roster on paper in a tough Western Conference. When healthy, Morant is one of my favorite NBA players. He’s so fun to watch and brings such a welcome flair and joy to the beautiful game we all love and can’t get enough of. Morant deserves to lead a winner.

We need more NBA stars like him, not fewer.

But that’s the thing: When is Morant healthy? He never is!

A player like Morant, who has averaged playing less than 60 games since the Before Times, doesn’t qualify as reliable. Come to think of it, I actually wouldn’t label someone like that a franchise player, either. That’s someone who resembles more of a rusty anchor dragging down the entire operation, even if it isn’t necessarily their fault.

I’m planting my flag and declaring the “injury-prone” Morant and the Grizzlies untrustworthy until further notice. Something tells me I won’t have to worry about Morant telling me I can’t change my opinion later. I will, in fact, stay on this side, as they say. And I still won’t feel good about watching a bright young talent in Memphis shine and dim every other month.

Shootaround

This was Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.