Grizzlies star Ja Morant out 'a couple of weeks' with knee sprain: 'This is nothing long term'

Though Ja Morant suffered what looked like a scary non-contact knee injury on Friday, Memphis Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins said the team expects the star point guard to miss only “a couple of weeks.”

Speaking Sunday ahead of their game against the Sacramento Kings, Jenkins said Morant avoided any tears or ligament damage in his knee, and that he’s just dealing with a sprain.

"We're so thankful we avoided a significant injury," Jenkins said, via the Memphis Commercial Appeal. "We expect a full recovery, and this is nothing long term that we're worried about."

Morant left Memphis’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter on Friday after he seemed to plant wrong on his left knee. Morant was driving into the lane from the wing, but pulled back out after tweaking the knee without it making contact with anyone.

Morant hopped around trying to pass the ball, and then hopped to the baseline and sat down. He eventually needed help getting off the court, and didn’t put much weight on his knee.

The Grizzlies quickly ruled him out of the game, and said afterward that he had suffered only a knee sprain — clearly a good sign.

Morant was averaging a career-high 25.3 points and 7.1 assists before Friday’s game.

Though the Grizzlies didn’t give a timeline for Morant’s return, Jenkins had no doubt the 22-year-old would be back quickly.

"It's a credit to him that when he's had injuries in the past, he really dives into the process of getting back healthy in his return to play," Jenkins said, via the Commercial Appeal. "We're in full communication that this is what we got to do off the court, on the court to get you back and he doesn't skip a beat."