- Fantasy starting five.
- Whew, it’s a tough decision for the 3:
KD or Bron.
First thing my teammates said is, “Man, look at your phone.”
And I looked at it, notifications were going crazy from the dunk.
- Shouldn’t a Point God go first in the NBA draft?
I'm back on the road, and this time I'm stopping in Florida to meet Ja Morant.
This point guard from Murray State has made a ton of noise in college basketball,
both on and off the court.
With the draft approaching he lets us in on how he’s preparing for the NBA.
- [Announcer]: Rockin' the cradle and creating percent
Too much Ja for Marquette early!
- All right, Ja Morant,
you went from being barely recruited to a potential top-three draft pick.
So when was the moment that you said, “Hey, I'm, I’m famous now”?
- Um. - [Laughing]
- The Alabama game. We came up short
but I think I finished with, like, 38 and had a dunk that went viral.
- [Announcer]: Here, Morant, 12 seconds. Wow!
- I was gettin’ on the bus after the game. First thing my teammates said is,
“Man, look at your phone.”
And I looked at it, notifications were going crazy from the dunk.
- [Announcer]: 36 points, he’s showin’ off tonight.
- Now I know after your NCAA tournament win,
you gained about 100,000 followers on Instagram, right?
- Yeah. - How did that feel?
- It felt good, but honestly, I think the win, first time gettin’ a win—you know, it felt great.
- But of those follows, which were the coolest?
- I’d probably have to say the players in the NBA: Kevin Durant, Luka, Paul George.
One that probably stand out right now is Allen Iverson.
Somebody that I kinda grew up watching, looking at, he followed me and DMed me.
- Allen Iverson DMed you?
- Yeah. - What'd he say?
- He was just like, “Just keep working”
and basically telling me that I was very talented.
- Well, I have another message for you.
I told CJ McCollum that I was going to be interviewing you,
and he sent a video for me to show you.
Ready?
- What up, Taylor? I heard you got one of them mid-major killers coming in town this week.
Ja, I wish you nothing but the best at the next level.
Understand that you have a responsibility coming from a mid-major program, man.
Be a monster. Be a killer. Be a savage. Don't lose your chip.
You know, how you play will affect the next Ja. It will affect the next CJ.
It will affect the next Dame, the next Steph.
So keep that pipeline open.
Wish you nothing but success, except for when you play against us.
- But, so, he talks about just this responsibility that you now have, making it from a mid-major.
Is that how you feel, that the way that you play
is going to be the way we perceive mid-major players coming forward?
- Yeah, I think those guys—
CJ, Dame and Steph—
kinda open it up for some other mid-major players,
and most of them probably have the same story.
Falling under the radar and end up blowing up late,
and now everybody's like, “Who is this guy?”
And all three of those guys now is big-time players in the NBA,
and hopefully when I get there, I can be one of those players.
- With the draft coming up, lots of decisions to be made with your suit.
What kind of statement do you want to make with what you wear on draft night?
- I'm a fashion guy. I like dressing. I love shoes. So I'mma be different.
- OK, since you're a fashion guy, I’mma show you some suits.
You give me your thoughts, you grade the suit.
LeBron.
- Come on, Bron. I don't know what color that is, honestly.
Then the fit is just, like— my wrist probably can fit in there too.
That's gotta go with a C.
- Only a C?
- Yeah, cuz it’s Bron.
- Damian Lillard.
- I just like how he throw it off a little bit,
have the different colors, but it all in sync together.
That's an A to me right there.
- All right, Steph.
- Ahhh.
- That's a yikes.
- Yeah, I don't know about the color.
The fit a little big too, cuz I know his legs not that big.
But again, it's Steph, so he get a C.
- He gets a C?
- Yeah.
- Trae Young.
- It's different. I think he should have pulled it up a little bit.
Like, it look like capris almost.
He get a C-plus.
- And what do you think of the “They will know your name” in the jacket?
- That’s tough. It’s basically like he tryin’ to prove himself.
- If there was a message that you could put in a suit,
what would your message be?
- “Beneath no one.” That's what my mom always told me.
I probably would have to add “Trained to go” too.
That, like, basically I was built for this moment.
- So, “Beneath no one” and “Trained to go.”
- Yeah.
- I like it.
- Seat belts!
Oh, this is actually smooth.
- Yeah, I noticed. This a little faster too.
- You're working out at this world-class facility.
- Yeah.
- In a couple weeks, you’ll be an NBA player.
Like, I feel like you're just, like, “Yeah, cool.”
- Nah, this right here is, is crazy.
IMG, me being able to work out here
with all the stuff they have, I’ve almost been to the NBA's.
- So what's your goal while you're training here at the IMG Academy?
- I’d say the biggest is probably getting stronger.
The physicality in the NBA is different than college, and also probably conditioning.
Obviously, I'll probably be playing 50-plus more games than I did in college.
Just to be in the best shape I can be for those 82 games.
- You also do some yoga here.
- Yeah.
- Have you benefited from the zen of yoga?
- Yeah, my body was a little tight.
And we actually did yoga a little bit
before the season at Murray, and I was struggling.
And since I've been here, I've been doing yoga once a week,
and I feel like my body is getting better and more flexible.
- What's the best pose that you do?
- Just laying down. The end, when you gotta relax and go to sleep.
- [Laughing] That’s where you excel?
- Yeah, everything else hurt.
- I know you said you haven't golfed yet, but you said you wanted to golf.
Why golf? And are you gonna be bad?
- Um, I'm pretty sure I will be bad.
- You were so confident too! I was ready.
I know, it just went so far we can't see it.
- OK. No, do your, do your—
- You messed me up!
- No, do, do your—
- You messed me up!
- [Laughing]
- You messed me up.
- I'm helping you out.
- Right! Cuz I was a PGA champ before you stepped in!
- Ohhh.
- Nice, Taylor, nice.
- All right, Ja. Boom! I missed a couple shots, but I hit the golf ball.
- All right.
- You athletic, you should be able to hit the ball.
- You got it. You got it this time.
- Don't worry about it. I’m ‘bout to knock it out the park.
Man, what?!
- That was good though.
- Look where my ball at, man.
- Baby steps.
- [Announcer]: The tournament’s two leading scorers, up, hammers it home! It’s a Ja jam!
- It's just crazy to me that you were able to really slip through the cracks of every school.
How does that happen?
- A question I asked myself around those times. It was rough.
There was times where I was thinking about just quitting.
It was like, “What do I gotta do?”
Like, I felt like I proved myself against some of the top teams,
top players, and still nobody offered me.
- And how did you convince yourself to keep going?
- I think it was more of my parents.
I mean, once you get down and start questioning yourself,
it's hard to get back, and my parents just told me to just keep working.
It ended up paying off, so.
- But if you could just tell your parents something
about helping you with your journey, what would it be?
- I love them. I don’t think I can thank them enough.
The negative things my dad would say,
my mom yelling at him for the negative things he’d say.
- How did that tough love from your dad help you?
- He probably would call me overrated, say I haven't done anything yet.
I think I finally understood, like, what he was doing cuz
he really prepared me for what was gonna happen.
Like, mainly a lot this year. Obviously my name blew up,
so every away game, if the fans yellin’ “overrated”—
- “I heard that. My dad told me that.”
- Yeah, like, it doesn't bother me.
If I can take it from my dad, I can take it from anybody.
- Game’s still not over cuz you hit it. Game’s still on the line.
Let me see your form before you hit it.
- I don’t even know—
- I know, cuz I'm like—
- I still don't feel like I'm holding the thing right.
- I’mma move, actually.
- You got this.
- Go, Ja!
- [Laughing]
- So I'mma let you play some fantasy basketball right now.
If you could pick any players in the league—
current players, including yourself— who's on your team?
- Well, I have to go with me first, point guard.
I like Paul George to be my 2. He also plays defense.
Whew, it’s a tough decision for the 3. I don't know if I'd pick KD or Bron.
Probably KD because Bron, he can make plays,
but I feel like I can be that facilitator for this team.
For the 4, I’mma have to go with Greek Freak.
- OK, this is a squad. OK.
- For my 5, AD. Anthony Davis.
- That's good.
- Yeah.
- Who are you gonna enjoy throwing lobs to the most on that team?
- Man, probably Anthony Davis.
Probably be that pick-and-roll, and you can just throw it anywhere
around the rim, he’ll just go get it.
- I was watching an interview when you referenced Drake's lyric.
Like, that's around the time that your idols become your rivals.
- Yeah.
- How does that line relate to you?
- It's gonna relate a lot soon.
Once I get in the NBA, watching guys that I grew up watching,
honestly, who've been there in the NBA for a while
and stepping on the same court as them.
It’s gonna feel great, but at the same time,
you can’t have no friends on the court.
- Which basketball player, though, is it gonna be, like,
it'll take you a minute to say, “All right, this is my opponent.
I can't, like, appreciate them as a basketball player right now”?
Who's that one player?
- Westbrook.
- Yeah.
- My favorite player. I got a lot of love for him.
And once I step in those four lines again against him, it's just gonna be a battle.
- So what have you taken from his game?
- I just like what he do on the floor.
He try to do everything he can to help his team win.
If it's rebounding the ball, making plays for his teammate
or score the ball, and that's kinda how I try to play.
Just do anything I can to help my team win
and just try to play an all-around game.
- For every guest that I have on the show, we do a “Take Me” segment,
and that's what we're gonna do right now, OK?
Take me to your first win in basketball.
- My first year in AAU when I played with my dad.
I think the most thing I remember about it is when our coaches,
like, telling us to keep our hands out when we play defense.
So he started this little chant called Airplane.
So, like, we would be playing defense and everybody be screaming it.
- “Airplane.” - Yeah.
- Take me to the inspiration for the eyebrow cuts.
- Well, my dad had ‘em when he was in school. - OK.
- It did look a little, I guess, cool
and you probably don't see most people with ‘em.
I got the same ones.
- Do you do ‘em on your own or do you go to the barber and he does it for you?
- He actually—my dad’s a barber. - Nice.
- So he cuts my hair and do the things in my eyebrows and all.
- All right, take me to playing AAU with Zion Williamson.
- We won a lot of games. It wasn’t too many losses we had.
- So when you guys were playing, did you know the path Zion was going to take?
- I knew he would be a special talent.
He was a rising freshman. I was in 10th grade.
He was playing up with us and was scoring easy against older guys,
so I always knew he had it in him.
- You have called yourself “The Point God.” Shouldn’t a Point God go first in the NBA draft?
- Oh, man.
Well, most people, they blowin’ up the Point God thing,
saying I’m arrogant and cocky, but what they don’t know is
me and my dad been sayin’ it since I was playing.
And that’s just me being humble and confident at the same time.
I feel like I am a top player in this draft, but regardless of where I go—
first, second, third—I’mma still be the same Ja
and just try to make an impact on whatever team draft me.
[Announcer:] Step back Ja again
He told us all, "Relax. I'm not done yet.
- Ja Morant on the show today, which, by the way:
We call you Ja, but your real name is— - Temetrius.
- And your middle name is— - Jamel.
- And that’s where we get Ja.
- Yeah. Honored to be on.
- Oh, we’re happy to have you on. Thank you.
- Man, I quit!
- You can’t quit! Remember, we don’t quit around here.