Ja Morant made a promise. To himself, to his team, to anyone who would listen.

After missing more than 100 games in five years, the man who played on a pogo stick was grounding himself. No more reckless, highlight-reel dunks. But promises get tricky when you have a $12 million-a-year Nike deal that was built on the very thing you swore you’d give up. This summer, on a global tour with a simple, powerful slogan—“Make Them Watch”—Ja Morant had to choose between his health and his brand. And he almost lost everything in a split second.

The tour culminated in the Philippines, a country with a fanatical love for basketball. After a whirlwind trip filled with contradictions, Morant took to Instagram with a heartfelt message that seemed to capture a moment of reflection. “Manila 🇵🇭 Thank you for being such a warm, welcoming, and loving place. Great Vibes 🔥. I’ll carry these memories with me forever,” he wrote. During an exhibition game there, he gave the fans what they came for, capping his visit with an emphatic and, most importantly, safe solo slam. It was the perfect, controlled ending to his international trip.

But just a few days earlier in China, control was the last thing on anyone’s mind.

In a move that surely had the entire Grizzlies front office holding its breath, Morant tried to dunk over his own father, Tee. As he went up, Ja slipped. He crashed – hard — into his dad and tumbled to the floor. For a terrifying moment, it looked like a disaster. He got up, shook it off, and even made the dunk on his next try, but the warning shot had been fired. The showman was still at war with the survivor.

We’ve seen this movie before. Last December, after another injury, a tired Morant told the world he was done with the high-wire act. “I’m not trying to dunk at all,” he said, his voice laced with frustration. “Sometimes I get knocked out the air and [a foul] don’t get called, and now I’m out longer than what I’m supposed to be… Hey, two points is two points.” It was a veteran move from a young star whose body was already paying the price for his fearless style.

Then came the playoffs. In Game 3 against the Thunder, it happened exactly as he feared. He drove to the rim, got clipped in mid-air by Lu Dort, and went down in a heap. A hip injury. Just like that, his game was over, and so were the Grizzlies’ chances.

It was a brutal, painful reminder of why he made the promise in the first place. Every time he takes flight, he’s rolling the dice. So, what’s the answer? How does he stay true to himself without breaking himself?

A new shoe, a new outlook, and a ‘scary’ Ja Morant

The “Make Them Watch” tour was, at its heart, a massive marketing push for his new signature shoe, the Nike Ja 3. And the shoe itself is basically the conflict in sneaker form. “I told the Nike design team I needed something that talks before I even lace it up,” Morant said. “I told them, ‘Don’t be scared. Push it. Make it rugged, make it different.’” The result is a shoe built for pure explosion, featuring what he calls “jet fuel”—a special foam designed for maximum bounce. Nike is selling the daredevil, even as the man himself is trying to learn how to play it safe.

But this offseason, something more important than a shoe seems to have clicked for Morant. After years of off-court turmoil, suspensions, and injuries, he seems genuinely happy. The guy we saw on this tour was smiling, engaging, and light—a world away from the player who missed 126 games over the last three seasons. He’s found his way back to the mindset that made him an MVP candidate in 2022.

He even has a new motto, one so important it’s stamped on the bottom of his new shoes: “A happy Ja is a scary Ja for a lot of people.” He’s not trying to prove people wrong anymore; he’s trying to find joy. “Right now, I’m happy, and that’s my main focus,” he said recently. “So long as I stay happy and healthy, it’ll be a great season.”

The Grizzlies are all in. According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, the team’s recent coaching change was a decision made to “optimize Ja Morant,” a direct response to “noise about Ja being unhappy all season long.” The organization is betting its future not on his dunks, but on his well-being. The battle between the high-flyer and the grounded superstar isn’t over. But maybe Ja has realized he doesn’t have to choose. Maybe, for him, happiness is the ultimate highlight. And if he’s right, the rest of the league is in for a rude (read: scary) awakening.