NBA season return: 5 players with the most to prove in remainder of 2019-20

We know now the structure the NBA’s return will take in July. These five NBA players will have a lot to prove when the 2019-20 season resumes.

Every team and player will have something to prove when the NBA season returns after an extended and unforeseen suspension due to concerns over the global pandemic of novel coronavirus.

It looks as though the season resume will come in Orlando at Walt Disney World, and a good amount of the league’s 30 teams will come and compete for the Larry O’Brien trophy. Reports indicate it will likely be somewhere between 20 and 22 teams.

The format may look different than ever before. The setting will assuredly be much different than ever before. One thing will certainly remain — competition.

While many players have something to prove, these players have a little bit extra to prove this season in one of the most unique competition settings of the last several decades.

Grizzlies: Ja Morant has to prove his Rookie of the Year case… again

I don’t want to put Ja Morant on this list, I really don’t. But the national discourse and discussion force me to.

For all intents and purposes, Ja Morant is Rookie of the Year. He’s put up astonishing, NBA-ready numbers in his debut season not far removed from basically being a non-recruit heading into his collegiate career. He’s a lovable underdog (can we even call him that anymore?) that plays like he’s the tallest, baddest man on the floor.

More from NBA

• Meet Cooper Flagg: The best American prospect since LeBron James
• Are the Miami Heat laying the groundwork for their next super team?
• Sophomore Jump: 5 second-year NBA players bound to breakout
• Constructing the NBA’s perfect all-under-25 starting five
• Grading every NBA team’s highest draft pick in the last five years

Anyone in their right mind should put him as Rookie of the Year. Morant leads rookies in points and assists per game. He’s averaging 17.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 6.9 assists per game. He’s one of the primary reasons the youthful Grizzlies have been a playoff team basically all season long.

But then came Zion Williamson. It’s hard to blame those who think he’s Rookie of the Year. Though he only played in 19 games after sitting out the start of the season due to injury, those games were remarkable. Williamson has shown the makings of a superstar already in his rookie season.

But Morant has too, and he’s done it all season long, logging 59 games so far.

Going into the hiatus, the narrative was all about Zion when it came to rookies. That narrative stuck throughout the season hiatus and puts Morant in a place he should not be in. A place where he suddenly needs to prove himself.

Morant is not one to shy away from the stage. The Grizzlies aren’t either.