MIAMI – Oh, you think the Memphis Grizzles’ last few months, punctuated by a bizarrely timed coach firing, were bad? Things were grimmer for Jaren Jackson Jr. and his teammates at this time last year.
In 2023-24, injuries and the resulting lack of stability crushed the Grizzlies, producing a 27-55 year after back-to-back 50-win seasons. A shoulder injury and 25-game suspension all but erased Ja Morant’s year. Desmond Bane missed half the games. Only Jackson and third-year forward Santi Aldama played in more than 60 games.
Jackson, at least, made the most of it.
“It was everything. It gave me a chance to be defended by teams in a specific way,” Jackson told The Athletic. “(Opposing teams) were throwing all types of crazy coverages and schemes out there. There were a lot of things I had to learn. It presented me with a new challenge. … Usually, my job was to just get it and score. But I had to learn to set up my teammates; make sure they were involved. That was a big step for me.”
As the Grizzlies look ahead to Tuesday’s Play-In Tournament game against the Golden State Warriors, which will determine who gets the seventh seed in the West and a first-round matchup against the Houston Rockets, Jackson will play a pivotal role in attempting to slow down the spiral that’s led Memphis to this point.
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Over the course of a month, the Grizzlies have dropped from the No. 2 seed to the No. 8 seed. They fired former head coach Taylor Jenkins with nine games left in the regular season and Morant has created controversy once again after his “finger guns” celebration became national news, forget about his pivot.
Even though Morant has started playing at a superstar level again recently, at least when he has been on the court, Jackson has been the best and most important player in Memphis this season.
“We understand what’s ahead of us. We know what it’s like to perform during those pressure moments,” Jackson said. “I know it’s on me to be great during those times and I know (Morant) and (Bane) feel the same way. But it’s on us to make our teammates great too.”
To prevent this season ending in complete collapse, Jackson has to raise his level of play the way stars are expected to during moments of adversity. Last season informed the type of play the Grizzlies need from him, and know he can provide.
With the Grizzlies’ explosive backcourt sidelined, Jackson took on more of a shot-creation and playmaking role than he ever has in his career. Most offensive possessions went through him. He constantly fought through double-teams and poor spacing to ensure Memphis could still run a functional offense.
With all the losing, constant changes in the lineup and pressure to carry the team during moments of turmoil, Jackson said it was one of the most difficult seasons he’s experienced at any level. Still, he finished with a usage rate that was nearly five percentage points higher than his previous ceiling. It forced him to slow down and be more selective with his attacks. He learned how to read defenses differently and anticipate how teams would throw multiple defenders at him — and where those defenders would come from.
Those numbers Jackson put up weren’t just empty calories. It was his crash course in life as a superstar. Jackson was able to apply many of the lessons he learned last season and become a more effective and efficient version of himself once Memphis got healthier this season.
Despite playing most of the season with Morant and Bane back in the lineup, Jackson’s per-minute scoring is higher than it was last year, and his assists are nearly even, and well above where they were previous to last year. His usage is down slightly, but his efficiency has jumped.
Jackson finished this season with career highs in 3-pointers made (146) and points in the paint (824). It’s tough to do both in the same season while also sharing the offensive burden with two high-volume scorers like Morant and Bane. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns and Cade Cunningham are some of the other players who finished this season with more than 100 3-pointers and more than 800 points in the paint.
The gradual improvements he’s made on both ends have led to him putting together the best season of his career in 2024-25. He averaged 22.2, 5.6 rebounds and 1.5 blocks while putting up 49/38/78 shooting splits. There’s a good chance he ends up being named to an All-NBA team and and All-Defensive team.
Sometimes, it looks a bit awkward. The foundation of his offensive arsenal starts with the unorthodox touch shots that have become a signature of his. He knocks them down with either hand — although he prefers going to his left hand — and he doesn’t mind shooting them from odd angles.
It can look more like a hook shot than a floater or vice versa. Every now and then, it looks like he just tosses it up and hopes to find the net. Although it’s not the stuff you usually see on highlight tapes, there’s no question how effective it’s become.
“It really doesn’t matter if I’m shooting it with my right or my left,” Jackson said the morning before a late-season game. “If they don’t foul me, I feel like it’s going in every time.”
It’s fitting that Jackson is most comfortable when going to such an unorthodox shot. So much of the player he’s become is outside of the norm.
He’s considered one of the best big men in the league despite averaging fewer than six rebounds per game over his career. He’s a right-handed jump shooter who prefers dribbling and taking shots around the rim with his left. He’s a power forward who shoots 3-pointers at a 37.5-percent clip, scores in the post with ease and shoots floaters like a point guard.
In an era where the “unicorn” big man has become one of the most desired archetypes around the league, there aren’t many quite like Jackson.
“He’s one of the most talented guys I’ve ever been around,” Bane said. “A guy with his size, skill and touch? You can’t teach that. And that’s before you get to his defense.”
That’s the side of the ball that vaulted him into stardom early in his career. He won Defensive Player of the Year in 2022-23 when he was just 23. He’s a candidate for the award again this year.
Since then, his focus centered on becoming a more cerebral, well-rounded player — one who can dominate with his mind as well as his physical gifts. The numbers justify Jackson holding that star status along with other greats at his position. His response in the next few games — and potentially the next few weeks — will go a long way in determining how firm his standing is at this tier.
Expect Morant to increase aggression with hopes of saving the Grizzlies season, especially if his team ends up in a win-or-go-home game on Friday. Jackson will have to raise his game similarly to help the Grizzlies right the ship before it’s too late. He will need to punish teams who prefer to play smaller, such as the Warriors, in the paint. The Grizzlies’ two potential first-round opponents, Oklahoma City and Houston, both offer more size. As the season has gone on, the Grizzlies have succeeded more with Jackson and rookie Zach Edey sharing the floor, a nice counter to those teams.
“It’s obviously a huge luxury. He’s a one-man wrecking crew,” Grizzlies interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “He attracts a ton of double-teams. … It’s been super impressive watching his work ethic on a daily basis.”
As much credit as Jackson deserves for his offensive improvement, defense has the Grizzlies’ biggest issue during their recent struggles. Since Feb. 1, the Grizzlies have ranked 19th in defensive rating. This is a stark dropoff for the same group that built its identity around defense during those back-to-back 50-win seasons.
Jackson’s offense is crucial, but his production on the other end has never been more important. Reserve Brandon Clarke (knee) and defensive-minded rookie Jaylen Wells (wrist) suffered season-ending injuries in the last six weeks, a big part of the Grizzlies’ skid. Jackson is one of the few players left in the rotations who’s capable of being consistently disruptive on defense.
“Defense is going to be key for us as we head into these do-or-die game,” Jackson said. “We’ve talked about it a lot as a team. If we don’t lock in on defense, we’re not going to reach the goals we’ve been chasing all year.”
To make an impact there, Jackson will have to be able to stay on the floor, an early-career bugaboo that has resurfaced lately. In particular, Jackson’s foul trouble and eventual sixth foul with less than two minutes left in the game was a major factor in the Grizzlies’ 134-125 loss to the Warriors on April 1. Jackson is up from 4.0 fouls per 36 minutes before the All-Star break to 4.5 since.
“He’s too good to still be getting in foul trouble. A couple of those fouls he picked up, he can stay away from those,” Draymond Green said of his fellow former Michigan State star. “It’s time for him to take the next step in that department. … His team needs him out there.”
As much as Morant has carried the mantle as the leader in Memphis, Jackson getting to the point where it feels more like him and Morant are co-stars, inside the locker room if not outside of it, rather than him being a supporting figure under Morant, is a key for the team’s growth. Once this season is over, the Grizzlies will have to show just how much they believe in Jackson’s ability to reach that level.
If Jackson makes an All-NBA team this season, he’ll be eligible for a five-year, $345-million super-max extension. That’s a heavy price to pay for someone with only two All-Star games under his belt and zero appearances in a conference final. Even seven years into his career, there’s a speculative element that remains about his game.
But it’s tough to see a future in Memphis without Jackson. He’s essential to their success on both ends. It feels like he still has a ton of room to grow, even if his best individual season yet ends disappointingly on a team level.
Jackson is still hopeful he can help his team avoid that last part.
“The main thing I’ve tried to tell everyone is to just stay focused on the main goal. We’ve come so far. There’s no reason to come this far and just allow outside stuff to knock us off track,” Jackson said. “We haven’t played as well to end the season. We know what it’s going to take. We’ve just got to lock in and do what we do best.”
(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)