What to do? Watch basketball

The Suns, Ja, Kuzma, Scottie, Jokic, Celtics' D--what I see when I can’t see my dad

BY DAVID THORPE

My father died last week and I’ve dreamt about him every night since. I’m not sure I ever remember dreaming about him when he was alive. I miss him every day. 

So … it turns out… I’ve been watching a ton of basketball. It feels like the natural thing to do. That’s what I did on Friday nights as a teenager with my brother Mike, that’s what I did for many hours of the day when I was getting to know my wife. That has been the inspiration for our dogs’ names—first Spalding, now Wilson—and it’s even the topic of a poem I wrote in elementary school. 

As I’ve been watching, here’s what I have been seeing:

Ja Morant’s Grizzlies might be young, but at 35-18 they also have the third-best record in the whole NBA. JUSTIN FORD/GETTY IMAGES

Ja Morant is even better than I realized

In October we wrote that he was Allen Iverson with a 3-pointer, ending with “is he good enough to be a league MVP and take his team to the Finals? Yes and yes. Iverson showed the way. With reliable long-range shooting, Ja is on a path beyond The Answer.” Honestly, I didn’t mean this season. But now I do!

This is a 14-foot floater, a difficult shot that Ja has fully weaponized.