MEMPHIS – At first, their bond was sealed only by basketball.
Ja Morant and Tyus Jones both play the same point guard position, and they both settled into Memphis around the same time last summer to start the next chapter of their NBA journey.
Both are now committed to guiding the Grizzlies through the uncertainties ahead in Orlando’s NBA “bubble” among 22 teams hoping to secure a playoff spot with the season set to resume. But Morant and Jones are also now united by much harder realities of leaving Memphis behind.
Both are proud, first-time parents of newborns. And as the Grizzlies departed Wednesday for Orlando, that meant Morant had to pull away from 11-month-old daughter Kaari Jaidyn. And Jones had to somehow say goodbye to two-month-old Tyus Jr. before boarding the team plane.
Absolutely nothing the Grizzlies will face on Disney’s secluded and quarantined campus in the coming weeks and months could ever be tougher than leaving precious, young loved ones. As NBA teams settle into the Wide World of Sports Complex this week, many players, coaches and staff won’t easily escape the unsettling feeling of an indefinite stretch without families present.
“The bubble situation is another situation that none of us players have ever had to deal with,” Jones said of adjusting. “On top of that, you’re throwing in me having to leave my son. It is extremely, extremely tough. But those are conversations we have been having, just trying to figure out what is best. (Do) I feel comfortable leaving, going to the bubble? And ultimately deciding I was comfortable enough to do that doesn’t make it any easier not being (home).”
The Grizzlies aren’t unique in facing the NBA bubble’s initial challenge. Safety protocols to protect against the spread of COVID-19 inside the league’s quarters at Disney have limited the number of team staff allowed on the resort. Family members are also prohibited from accompanying players and team officials at Disney in the initial weeks of the NBA’s restart.
Teams could end up staying inside Disney’s resort anywhere from five weeks to as long as four months for the two franchises that end up meeting in the NBA Finals in October.
On top of that, you’re throwing in me having to leave my son. It is extremely, extremely tough. But those are conversations we have been having, just trying to figure out what is best. (Do) I feel comfortable leaving, going to the bubble? And ultimately deciding I was comfortable enough to do that doesn’t make it any easier not being (home).
The Grizzlies are among the second wave of teams set to arrive in Orlando, and are scheduled to test and quarantine at the resort for two days before holding their first practice on Friday. That process will include two weeks of initial training and testing followed by another week to play three scrimmage games against the Sixers, Rockets and Heat.
Then, the Grizzlies begin their eight-game “seeding” schedule July 31 against Portland as they try to hold onto the eighth and final playoff spot in the West to reach the postseason.
That’s the business aspect of the trip.
And then there’s the personal side. For Morant, that means being away from home for two milestone moments – his daughter’s first birthday on Aug. 7 and his 21st three days later.
“One hundred percent – that is the biggest thing for me,” Morant said. “I am going to be missing my birthday and my daughter’s birthday. That definitely goes in to play when you think about going to Orlando. Just not being able to spend time with your family and leaving my daughter. I will definitely miss it a lot.”
The irony of the NBA bubble is that there are no advantages of proximity to Orlando. For instance, the Magic only had to take a short bus ride from their homes and downtown arena over to Disney but won’t have in-person access to family and friends on the resort.
The Grizzlies arrive as the youngest team among the restart field. Their roster also includes plenty of parents and staffers with young children. Morant, Jones and forward Kyle Anderson are among players on the team who welcomed newborns into the world in recent months. Swingman Josh Jackson and center Jonas Valanciunas are two others with toddlers.
I am going to be missing my birthday and my daughter’s birthday. That definitely goes in to play when you think about going to Orlando. Just not being able to spend time with your family and leaving my daughter. I will definitely miss it a lot.
And first-year coach Taylor Jenkins also has young children in the fold at home. One of the silver linings of the NBA’s four-month COVID-19 hiatus has been the ability to spend limitless quality time at home with family since the season was halted in March. Now, there’s a drastic shift in the opposite direction as players and staffers brace for essentially secluded life in the bubble.
Jenkins said his staff and front-office executives have been working on ways to ensure players and their families remain connected and supported with resources throughout the restart. Some of the virtual activities and get-togethers the Grizzlies used to maintain interaction with players during stay-at-home mandates will keep players in Orlando tied to family in Memphis.
“It’s very unpredictable and there’s not a script for that,” Jenkins said of the work-life balance in the NBA bubble. “We have to get a lot of things in place in Orlando, not just how we work but also how we live. So many hours are going to be spent outside the gym there in Orlando. We’ve been spending a lot of time on how we’re going to help our players’ and staff’s families while we’re gone. We’re going to try to create a lot of things while we’re there, because our unit wants to stay as connected as much as possible. That’s on our minds a lot.”
On the court, Morant’s goal is to push the Grizzlies back into the playoffs for the first time in three years. If accomplished, the frontrunner for NBA Rookie of the Year would be only the third rookie to lead a team to the playoffs as its leader in scoring (17.6) and assists (6.9).
Off the court, Morant expects to spend hours each day video conferencing to make sure he’s virtually there for young Kaari as each new tooth grows and for every step she takes.
“Really, just staying in touch with each other and making sure everybody is doing well, making sure everybody’s family is doing well,” Morant said of his initial priorities in Orlando. “Just continuing to build that bond. All of us, we felt we’re ready to get back on the floor together and get that chemistry back on the court. Go out there and attack these games in Orlando.”
It helps when you’re attacking these strange times, in strange places under strange conditions with teammates experiencing the same highs and lows of missing home along the way.
“I’ve got a lot of pictures of (Tyus Jr.) already,” Jones said of moments he’ll drift away flipping through his phone’s photo gallery. “I catch myself staring at him every day just thinking, ‘That is my son.’ They are so dependent on you and you just create this bond the second they enter your world. You can’t put it into words.”
Jones said he’s already sharing young dad notes and scouting reports with Morant.
“It’s just another thing that we can relate to one another in another way,” Jones explained. “It has definitely made us closer, and our bond even tighter. Now, getting down to the bubble and getting to be around each other, it will be cool to kind of have that thing in common.”
Morant and Jones have been productive priorities for Memphis throughout a challenging season that started with so much promise, was halted by the pandemic and is set to restart 825 miles from Memphis in the bubble. This time a year ago, they bonded mainly through basketball. And they’ve grown to become one of the most explosive and efficient point guard tandems in the league.
Now, the Grizzlies’ primary playmakers are connected by so much more.
A point guard parenthood.
The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Memphis Grizzlies. All opinions expressed by Michael Wallace are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Memphis Grizzlies or its Basketball Operations staff, owners, parent companies, partners or sponsors. His sources are not known to the Memphis Grizzlies and he has no special access to information beyond the access and privileges that go along with being an NBA accredited member of the media.