After helping the Portland Trail Blazers start the season with a 3-1 record, Ja Morant will miss at least the next four weeks after suffering a Grade 2 hamstring strain, as ESPN's Shams Charania reported. It continues an unfortunate early-season trend of star players getting injured, but, even more unfortunately for the guard, it's another setback.
Following the news about Morant, John Hollinger of The Athletic noted that the guard hasn't played in six straight games since March 2023 (subscription required).
The Trail Blazers didn't just gamble on bringing Morant in and pairing him with Damian Lillard in the backcourt (the early returns were good!); they also gambled on the guard's availability. And that's more important, since above all else, they need him on the court.
The closest he came to playing a full season was in 2019-20, when he played 67 games as a rookie. In three of his first four seasons, Morant reached the 60-game mark, but over the past three seasons, he played a combined 79 games, including just nine in 2023-24. He was suspended for 25 games then, but shortly after returning, he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
Morant played only 20 games in his final season in Memphis due to a calf injury and an elbow sprain.
Morant hasn't played in 6 consecutive games since 2023
Because he's dealing with a soft-tissue injury, his return to full speed (or whatever that looks like for him right now) this season is likely tied to it, especially after being so limited in 2024-25. Morant worked out during the offseason, but you can't replicate the intensity of an NBA game. He doesn't have the explosiveness he had early in his Grizzlies days, but he still plays with a burst of speed.
If you want to be optimistic, you could say it's better for him to miss time now than later in the season, but hamstring strains are still concerning. It's easy for a player to tweak the injury if they return too soon, which is why the Trail Blazers need to be especially careful with Morant. Injury luck hasn't been on his side.
Portland's goals for Morant are far bigger than him playing in six consecutive games, though that would still be a good milestone for him to hit, considering it's been three and a half years since he did that. And once that happens (speaking it into existence!), the Trail Blazers will want to stack games on top of that, without pushing him past his limits.
It was nice to see Morant start proving a lot of people wrong in Portland, and hopefully he'll take the adequate time he needs to pick up where he left off. Not just for the Trail Blazers' sake after they made the risky move of bringing him across the country, but for Ja's sake, as he's worked hard to get to where he is.
Please, don't let injuries get in the way.
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