Ja Morant is one of the NBA’s young superstars, but as he is still on the rise — and not playing in a particularly large market — he can still go unrecognized when he’s out and about. That was the case when the Memphis Grizzlies star left a large tip for a waitress who had no idea who he was. Once she figured it out, she was too shocked to continue the conversation.
The moment was captured in a video for episode three of Morant’s YouTube docuseries filmed by his videographer, who is known on social media by the name of Shot by Nie.
Morant was in the middle of a FaceTime call with his daughter while eating lunch. He had just given the waitress a $500 tip, and she looked at him not quite sure of what was going on, or who the generous tipper was. She was asked if she saw the number right because…well, who wouldn’t when seeing $500 in the tip line for a dinner for meal for just a few people.
“Yeah. Who are you, though?” she asked.
Morant replied by saying he was “Black Jesus,” but this was not a satisfactory answer for her. The waitress asked him what school he went to, but he told her he was not from around the area, he was from South Carolina.
At this point in the conversation she still didn’t know who he was, but she began guessing that he was probably an athlete. Morant told her she played basketball, and she asked if he was going to the NBA.
“I’m already in the NBA,” Morant replied.
She was informed that he played for the Memphis Grizzlies, a team that she recognized because of one particular player.
“That’s that team the ball player Jaria…” She stopped, forgetting his name.
Those who came to lunch with him let her know that the player whose name she was trying to remember was sitting right in front of her. She screamed and took a second to continue.
“You that boy?” she asked and used her hands to show the hairstyle he had during the season. “What’s your name?”
When he replied with his full name, she covered her mouth and ran to the back of the restaurant.
Sure, $500 is a significantly large tip, but Morant was just passing the wealth around. His paycheck was already a good one, but the episode closed by showing he agreed to a five-year, $193 million designated rookie maximum extension that could become worth $231 million.
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