Photo: Peter Baba

Ja Morant has discussed the emotional and mental difficulties athletes experience when dealing with injuries, emphasizing that fans often underestimate how much being sidelined can affect a player.

Morant explained that one of the hardest aspects of recovering from an injury is wanting to compete while knowing that returning to the court could put his health at further risk.

“Tough. It’s a lot. You want to be out there, knowing you can’t. That’s, I feel like, the even tougher part. I feel like nobody in this league would get injured and be able to play and not play, unless it’s something where it’s like, ‘All right, if I go play, I maybe can hurt it worse,’ or anything.”

The Blazers guard also acknowledged that injuries can have a significant psychological impact, sometimes causing players to question why they are the ones forced to miss games.

“Mentally, it can have you down on yourself. Actually, it can make you question everything, like, ‘Why it had to be me? Why at this time?’”

Morant stressed that basketball players dedicate their lives to reaching the NBA, making it particularly frustrating when injuries prevent them from doing what they have worked toward.

“For us, basketball is our job. Our goal was to play at the highest level. We had that opportunity to play at the highest level, then you’re injured and now it’s like you can’t go out there and play.”

Beyond the personal disappointment, Morant explained that missing games also means being unable to support teammates on the court after spending so much time working together.

“And for us, you got your teammates who you ride for, who you practice and go through everything with day in and day out. So you want to be out there.”

He added that injuries become even more difficult during the playoffs, when teams are competing for a championship.

“Then for it to be the playoffs, where we got the opportunity to win the ring, it is tough. I feel like in every negative, you got to find a positive in it. That’s what I was trying to do. It kind of took me a minute, but I made it.”