Through 13 games, Rockets rookie Jalen Green isn’t off to a very efficient start to his professional career. The No. 2 overall pick from the first round of the 2021 NBA draft is averaging 13.8 points in 32.3 minutes, but he entered Monday shooting just 35.2% overall and 27.0% on 3-pointers. Meanwhile, Houston is 1-12 in those games and has lost 11 straight.
In Monday night’s game, Green and the Rockets will face off against Memphis (6-7) and Ja Morant, the No. 2 overall pick from two years earlier. Having faced similar expectations to Green at the outset of his career, the third-year Grizzlies guard offered some useful perspective at shootaround regarding his younger counterpart in Houston.
Via sideline reporter Cayleigh Griffin of AT&T SportsNet Southwest, here’s what Morant said when asked what advice he would give Green:
Continue to play his game. Continue to go out there with confidence, continue to shoot shots you normally shoot. Nothing too much, he’s a special player. One he gets going, a lot of people will become fans of him. He can do a lot on the floor. He’s just got to continue to play. Can’t put a lot of pressure on himself with a bad game, or a missed shot. Just gotta turn the page, and do what he knows he’s capable of doing.
Morant went on to win Rookie of the Year and is currently averaging 26.2 points, 7.4 assists, and 6.5 rebounds per game in Memphis. Over time, that’s a trajectory that Green would love to follow in Houston.
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"..become fans of him. He can do a lot on the floor. Just gotta continue to play. Can't put a lot of pressure on himself with a bad game, or a missed shot. Just gotta turn the page and do what he knows he's capable of doing."
— Cayleigh Griffin (@cayleighgriffin) November 15, 2021
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