Portland Trail Blazers guard Ja Morant will miss at least four weeks with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain, a blow to a Portland team that opened the season 3-0.
ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the diagnosis on X on Friday, citing sources. The Trail Blazers confirmed it later in a statement, saying imaging revealed a grade two left hamstring strain and that Morant will be re-evaluated in four weeks, according to USA Today.
Morant got hurt Thursday night in his first game against his former team, the Memphis Grizzlies. He left in the fourth quarter of Portland’s 124-103 loss and did not return. Before exiting, he had 14 points and three assists in 23 minutes, ESPN reported.
Blazers coach Micah Nori said after the game that Morant felt a twinge in his hamstring. “I’m hoping that it’s nothing major, obviously,” Nori said, according to ESPN.
The two-time All-Star was traded from Memphis to Portland in the offseason after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the Grizzlies. Through his first four games with the Trail Blazers, Morant averaged 15.8 points and 5.5 assists, according to ESPN.
A four-week re-evaluation window would keep him out until late November at the earliest, meaning he will miss a big chunk of Portland’s early schedule, including the start of the Emirates NBA Cup group stage, which began Friday.
Morant’s injury adds to a rough first month for NBA stars. Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards, Oklahoma City’s Jalen Williams, Toronto’s Kawhi Leonard and Indiana’s Tyrese Haliburton are all sidelined with injuries of their own.
Aztimez will update this story if the Trail Blazers release a new timeline.
Sources: ESPN’s Shams Charania (on X), the Portland Trail Blazers via USA Today, and ESPN News Services.
Photo: “Sunset on the Hoop,” Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 public domain dedication. Generic image; not a photo of the player or team.
