The Grizzlies head to Orlando as the eighth seed in the West.

Grizzlies point guard Ja Morant, the Rookie of the Year front-runner, feels like he's ready to take off after making physical improvements during the NBA's hiatus.

Ja Morant has taken advantage of the NBA's hiatus, adding 12 pounds of muscle to help absorb contact when the NBA's likely rookie of the year fearlessly attacks the basketball. ''Going out there to win, prove people wrong,'' Morant said Thursday in a Zoom video call. Morant, the No. 2 pick overall in the 2019 draft, already has taken advantage of Zion Williamson missing much of the season to make his case as the league's top rookie.

Memphis Grizzlies rookie guard Ja Morant posted and deleted an Instagram photo suggesting he’d replace his name with an expletive on his number 12 jersey in a protest against police. “My post was intended to focus on bad cops who get away with the murder of unarmed Black men and women and those who continue to harass peaceful BLACK LIVES MATTER protestors," Morant said. , a Black woman shot and killed by Louisville Metro Police officers who were performing a no-knock warrant.

The Grizzlies' Ja Morant apologized for reposting an image of his jersey with an anti-police slogan on the back, clarifying that it "didn't clearly and accurately convey what I wanted to share."