The NBA’s MVP race is very close right now with Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic leading the way at the center position, but plenty of other names have entered the conversation in the past month for the award. 

DeMar DeRozan has been unstoppable on offense, leading the Bulls to being right at the top of the Eastern Conference standings, Luka Doncic has been leading the way for the Mavericks in the Western Conference and while it is unlikely he will win the award at this rate, it is time to start throwing Ja Morant’s name in the MVP conversation. 

In his third NBA season with the Memphis Grizzlies, Ja Morant has elevated himself from a Rookie of the Year award recipient with a lot of potential to a “household” name across the NBA that has now crossed the line of “superstar status” in this league. 

The things Morant is doing at 22-years-old and in his third season are unworldly and he has been the main catalyst for the Memphis Grizzlies all year long, leading them to a 43-20 record and just 0.5 game back from the Warriors for the 2-seed inthe Western Conference. 

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While he is not a “one-man show” in Memphis, as the Grizzlies have a handful of other talented players and slept on players, Ja Morant has been the focal point of Memphis’ offense all year long and has been unstoppable the last couple of games. 

In two games since the All-Star break, in which Ja Morant was named a first-time All-Star, the young star point guard has scored 46 and 52 points in back-to-back games, breaking the Grizzlies’ franchise-record for points in a game. 

Morant has been playing so well as of late, that he even has NBA Hall-of-Famer Allen Iverson’s endorsement for the award! 

Again, Ja Morant likely will not finish inside the Top-3 voting for MVP this season, but here are three reasons why the Memphis Grizzlies guard deserves recognition for the award this season.