Grizzlies star Ja Morant grabs NBA's most improved player award

Ja Morant was rookie of the year in 2020, vowing he would get better from there.

And he's done exactly that.

The Memphis Grizzlies guard picked up his second major award in three seasons Monday, getting announced as the NBA's Most Improved Player. He is the first Grizzlies player to receive the award — and the first player in league history to have won both rookie of the year and most improved.

Morant set career bests in scoring (27.4 points per game), rebounds (5.7), steals (1.2) and field-goal shooting (49.3 per cent). His scoring average last season was 19.1 per game, and he made the big jump while playing basically the same amount of minutes.

"This award goes to me, but I feel like it's a team effort," Morant said.

The Grizzlies had three players get votes for MIP — besides Morant, Desmond Bane was fifth and Jaren Jackson Jr. was 10th. The trio led Memphis to the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and the second-best record in the league behind Phoenix.

Memphis Grizzlies Head Coach Taylor Jenkins presents <a href="https://twitter.com/JaMorant?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@JaMorant</a> with his 2021-22 KIA NBA Most Improved Player Award! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAAwards?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAAwards</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KiaMIP?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KiaMIP</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBA75?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBA75</a> <a href="https://t.co/s9024kwNd9">pic.twitter.com/s9024kwNd9</a>

At 56-26, Memphis also tied the best regular-season mark in franchise history.

"That pretty much just shows our work ethic, as a whole, as a team," Morant said. "We all push each other. We all want to be better. I thought we all have that 'never satisfied'