Friday night was a terrible night for the Memphis Grizzlies and Jaren Jackson Jr. The team suffered its first bad loss of the season at home to the Utah Jazz, and their star big man continued a stretch of five consecutive games scoring 13 points or less.
Jaren Jackson Jr. hasn’t had a good season after a huge offseason that saw him sign the biggest contract in franchise history with a five-year, $240 million extension. He also switched his jersey number from number 13 to number 8 to honor his father, Jaren Jackson Sr., who played 13 seasons in the NBA.
The former Defensive Player of the Year winner is also having his worst year on that end of the court as he is averaging the least amount of blocks of his career, and his foul woes are the worst since his second NBA season in 2019-20. Despite his current struggles, he still found a way to rise in the franchise rankings to confirm that he is one of the best the Grizzlies have ever had.
Jaren Jackson Jr. joined the 800 block club
Pau Gasol and Marc Gasol were the only players in the Grizzlies’ franchise history to record 800 blocks while in a Memphis uniform until Jaren joined them last Friday night. Jaren Jackson Jr. once had the nickname “Block Panther,” but hasn’t lived up to that moniker this season with only a 1.0 average per game.
He began the season with six blocks in their season-opening win against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 25th, but has only had four more games with at least two blocks since that performance. However, his struggles this season don’t take away his accomplishments throughout his eight-year career in a Grizzlies uniform.
If you had to rank the top 10 players in franchise history, Jaren Jackson Jr. would firmly be in with a case to be ranked in the top five. This is the reason why, despite his struggles throughout his first 23 games this season, the Grizzlies will likely work through whatever issues seem to be hindering his game at the moment.
The franchise recommitted to him as a core piece for the present and future of the team this offseason, and his new milestone only confirms why they have that belief in him. Hopefully, his new franchise accomplishment can propel him to return to being the player he and the team know he can be as the Grizzlies continue to right the ship of their regular season.
