No Panic in Memphis: Grizzlies Lean on Seasoned Resilience After Ja Morant Injury Scare
For most teams, watching your franchise cornerstone limp off the floor in the fourth quarter would send alarm bells ringing. But for the Memphis Grizzlies, this season has been less about panic and more about persistence. When Ja Morant exited late in a win over the LA Clippers with what appeared to be an ankle injury, it didn’t unravel the team’s rhythm-it just added another chapter to a season already defined by adaptation.
Head coach Tuomas Iisalo, in his first year guiding this group, hasn’t had the luxury of continuity. Instead, he’s been forced to build a system on the fly, reshaping Memphis’ identity around who's available on any given night.
It’s been a season of improvisation, but not of guesswork. Every move has been deliberate, every adjustment rooted in necessity.
“We had a very, I don't know what the word is, but like Jaren and Ja basically didn't have a preseason with us,” Iisalo said, reflecting on the rocky start. “Ja got injured before the first game; Jaren was out for the whole lead-up, played two practice games with us.”
That was just the beginning. The injury list didn’t stop with the stars.
Ty Jerome was sidelined early, leaving the team without a true point guard to start the season. The frontcourt rotation?
Scrambled. Jock Landale, penciled in as the third center, was suddenly thrust into a major role with Brandon Clarke and Zach Edey both unavailable.
“We started the season essentially without point guards,” Iisalo added. “That just put us in a very, very difficult spot early on where we had to not only find a groove within the different lineups and different types of systems from before but also they were in different roles... and bigger roles.”
But instead of folding under the weight of those challenges, Memphis has leaned in. The Grizzlies have treated adversity not as a setback, but as a proving ground. It’s been a daily grind-one where the coaching staff and players have committed to figuring things out, game by game.
“There were a multitude of things then that set us back,” Iisalo said. “What we did was just keep working. All the credit goes to the guys who've been working day after day, week after week.”
That workmanlike mentality has become the team’s foundation. No excuses.
No shortcuts. Just a relentless focus on finding solutions, even when the roster looks more like a patchwork than a polished product.
“We've been trying to turn that into a positive and into a strength,” Iisalo continued. “Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves and figuring out all about why this won't work, we just put our working hats on to try to make it work.”
So when Morant went down again, the reaction wasn’t chaos-it was muscle memory. This team has been here before.
They’ve played without their stars, reshuffled rotations on the fly, and found ways to compete when the odds weren’t in their favor. That experience matters.
Memphis isn’t trying to mimic anyone else’s style, either. Their system looks different because it is different-built around the unique skill sets of whoever’s available, and constantly evolving.
“It looks very different than most teams play right now,” Iisalo admitted. “That is because of the guys' skill sets and how they interact with each other is very different. So no real magic tricks, just a lot of work and analysis and then synthesis into a game.”
That’s what makes this Grizzlies team so compelling. They’re not just surviving-they’re recalibrating on the fly, finding identity in the chaos, and refusing to let injuries define their ceiling. Whether Morant is on the floor or not, Memphis is playing with purpose, grit, and a belief that their best basketball is still ahead.
This isn’t a team looking for sympathy. It’s a team that’s been battle-tested, built through setbacks, and shaped by the grind. And that makes them dangerous-because when you've already weathered the storm, another gust of wind doesn't knock you off course.