The Memphis Grizzlies released a medical update on Tuesday night that officially shuts down three more rotation players for the rest of the season: Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, and Zach Edey.
Per the media release from the team’s communications department:
“The Memphis Grizzlies today provided the following medical updates for guard Ja Morant, forward Brandon Clarke, and center Zach Edey:
Morant continues to progress in his rehabilitation of a UCL sprain in his left elbow. Following a recent consultation to advise on lingering discomfort, it was recommended that Morant receive a PRP (platelet-rich plasma) injection to further optimize ligament healing. Morant will begin offloading the elbow following the injection and will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season, but he is expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Clarke continues to progress in his rehabilitation of a right calf strain, but recent imaging indicated that additional healing is required prior to clearance for high-intensity court work. Clarke will continue his rehabilitation program and will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season, but he is expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2026-27 season.
Edey today underwent a procedure to address lingering discomfort in his left elbow. He is expected to make a full recovery ahead of the 2026-27 season.”
This will come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to the Grizzlies lately.
It was a foregone conclusion that no one in that trio of players would play again this season, but that official confirmation just hits different.
At some point, it stops being an injury report and starts reading like an obituary. Fans are being treated to a slow, public autopsy of a season still in its death throes.
To be clear, this announcement is just a formality; it doesn’t materially change anything about the rest of the season, and even with the medical specifics, it doesn’t provide new information we didn’t already know. But it is a bummer nonetheless to see it spelled out.
So what, if anything, does this mean for the rest of the Grizzlies’ season?
Probably not much at this point, with 11 games remaining in the regular season.
This doesn’t make any changes in the current active roster – the Grizzlies will limp to the end of the season with what amounts to a G-League roster in a trench coat.
And it certainly does not ease the minds of fans who are waiting and hoping there is a path for Morant to remain part of this team. As much as I hate to say it, the writing has been on the wall for a while now, and it doesn’t look promising.
Chances are better than not that Ja Morant has played his last game in a Grizzlies jersey, ditto for Brandon Clarke. I hope that turns out not to be the case, but I am not holding my breath.
The injury bug has been especially unkind to the Grizzlies over the past few seasons, but this season it reached new levels, shattering the dreams of the exciting young core that had taken the reins after the storied Core Four era of Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, Mike Conley, and Tony Allen.
It is now even more painful because, due to the constant stream of injuries over multiple seasons, Memphis’s ideal starting lineup has played almost no minutes together this season.
This means the front office is trying to orchestrate a rebuild despite not having much solid data on whether the current team actually works.
Desmond Bane and Jaren Jackson Jr. have both been traded to new teams, and with the chatter all season long about his availability and the overall fit in the new system that head coach Tuomas Iisalo is trying to implement on the court, Ja Morant will likely be on his way to newer pastures this summer.
For those of you playing along at home, we have official confirmation that the season is over for the following players: Scotty Pippen Jr., Santi Aldama, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and now Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, and Zach Edey.
There is nothing else to be done but hang on until this cursed season is finished, and in the meantime, Grizz Nation, we can all suffer together as a family.