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Tim MacMahon, ESPN Staff Writer
DALLAS — An anticipatory buzz broke out in the American Airlines Center crowd when Grizzlies star Ja Morant had nothing but blue paint between him and the rim after stealing the ball near half court midway through the second quarter Tuesday night.
The fans booed when Morant — the creator of countless viral highlights during his five-plus-year NBA career — finished the fast break with a basic, two-hand dunk that wasn’t even hard enough to rock the rim.
“I’m not trying to dunk at all,” Morant said after Memphis’ 121-116 road loss to the Dallas Mavericks. “Y’all think I’m lying. I’m dead serious.”
Morant, who has dunked only three times in the 12 games he has played this season, is especially attempting to avoid the sort of spectacular dunks over defenders that helped make him one of the league’s most popular players.
It’s a matter of prioritizing self-preservation for Morant, a high-flying 6-foot-2, 174-pound guard who has had durability issues throughout his career.
He was sidelined for eight games last month after suffering a posterior hip subluxation and associated pelvic strains when he fell awkwardly after being bumped midair by Los Angeles Lakers reserve center Christian Koloko while attempting to catch an alley-oop.
“Sometimes I get knocked out the air and [a foul] don’t get called, and now I’m out longer than what I’m supposed to be,” Morant said, explaining why he doesn’t want to dunk in traffic. “Sometimes the foul might get called; I still hit the floor, but after the game you might feel that little fall. So I just pick and choose, man. Hey, two points is two points. I get it done. That’s all that matters.”
Morant, who is averaging 22.0 points and 8.6 assists for the 14-8 Grizzlies, understands that fans might feel let down when he ends drives to the basket or fast breaks in routine fashion. He didn’t mind Mavs fans booing his admittedly boring dunk Tuesday night.
“Hey, I’m fine with that. Continue to boo me,” Morant said with a smile. “Hey, I got two points. It was still a dunk. It was just not the dunk they wanted to see. But if they boo me off a little rim-grazer, I’m fine with that.”
Morant quickly shot down a playful suggestion that he could make it up to fans by making his debut appearance in the All-Star Weekend dunk contest.
“If I’m chillin’ on the in-game, you ain’t gotta worry dunk contest, either,” Morant said. “Man, my focus right now is do what I can with the team and continue to try to get to 100 percent [healthy].”