The Baseball Hall of Fame has released the official ballot for the 2026 class of inductees, one that includes several prominent holdovers and 12 first-time nominees.

More than 400 voting members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America will make their selections by the end of the year, with the results announced live Jan. 20, 2026, on MLB Network.

Last year, the BBWAA voted in three players — Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner — with Carlos Beltran (70.3%) and Andruw Jones (66.2%) just missing the required 75% support needed to gain induction to Cooperstown.

Beltran will be back for his fourth time on the ballot, while Jones will be eligible for the ninth time.

They’ll be joined by 13 other returnees and 12 newcomers on the 2026 ballot.

Here’s a look at some of the top candidates in their first year on the ballot:

OF Ryan Braun (47.2 career WAR)

Braun spent his entire 14-year MLB career with the Milwaukee Brewers. He was the 2007 NL Rookie of the Year when he hit 34 home runs and led the league in slugging. He went on to win the 2011 NL MVP award and finish second the following year. However, he was suspended for the final 65 games of the 2013 regular season for violating MLB’s drug policy. Braun finished with 352 home runs, 216 stolen bases and a career slash line of .296/.358/.532.

OF Matt Kemp (21.6 career WAR)

Kemp spent 15 seasons in the majors, 10 of them with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He was one of the game’s best all-around threats in L.A., finishing second to Braun in the 2011 NL MVP race when he led the league with 39 home runs, 115 runs scored and 126 RBI, while also stealing 40 bases. Kemp was a three-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove winner and two-time Silver Slugger. He finished with 287 home runs, 184 stolen bases and a .284/.337/.484 slash line.

SP Cole Hamels (59.0 career WAR)

Hamels was a workhorse pitcher who spent the first 10 of his 15 seasons in the majors with the Philadelphia Phillies. As a 24-year-old in 2008, he led the Phillies to a title — earning MVP honors in both the NL Championship Series and the World Series. A four-time All-Star, Hamels finished his career with a record of 163-122 and an ERA of 3.43 in 2,698 innings.

The ballot also has a Washington Nationals flavor with three former Nats among this year’s first-timers.

Infielder Howie Kendrick, who hit the clutch home run in Game 7 to propel Washington to a World Series title in 2019.
Infielder Daniel Murphy, who led the NL in doubles twice and earned two of his three All-Star nods as a member of the Nationals. He was also the 2015 NLCS MVP in leading the New York Mets to the World Series.
Left-handed pitcher Gio Gonzalez, who led the majors with 21 wins after being acquired by the Nats in 2012. He went on to pitch in four playoff series with Washington and one with Milwaukee over his 13-year career.

Other first-time nominees:

SP Rick Porcello
IF Edwin Encarnacion
3B/OF Alex Gordon
OF Shin-Soo Choo
OF Nick Markakis
OF Hunter Pence

Holdovers from the 2025 ballot

2025 voting percentage in parentheses; 75% needed for induction

OF Carlos Beltran (70.3%)
OF Andruw Jones (66.2%)
2B Chase Utley (39.8%)
SS/3B Alex Rodriguez (37.1%)
OF/DH Manny Ramirez (34.3%)
SP Andy Pettitte (27.9%)
SP Felix Hernandez (20.6%)
OF Bobby Abreu (19.5%)
SS Jimmy Rollins (18.0%)
SS Omar Vizquel (17.8%)
2B Dustin Pedroia (11.9%)
SP Mark Buehrle (11.4%)
RP Francisco Rodriguez (10.2%)
3B David Wright (8.1%)
OF Torii Hunter (5.1%)

Indiana football officially launched its Heisman Trophy campaign for star quarterback Fernando Mendoza on Monday.

Featuring the hashtag #HeisMendoza, which started as a chant from IU’s student section during the Oct. 18 win against Michigan State, IU’s official football LinkedIn account (a Mendoza favorite) posted a 94-second video to social media highlighting Mendoza’s achievements on the field this season, as well as his profile off it.

Mendoza’s 299-yard, three-touchdown performance Saturday against Wisconsin edged Indiana closer to the Big Ten championship game, and it also pushed him into position as the odds on favorite for the Heisman for the first time this season.

A vote for Mendoza is a vote for both his numbers and his moments. He leads the Power Four in total touchdowns, with close to 3,000 total yards, and he captained game-winning drives at Iowa, Oregon and Penn State. NFL scouts consider him among the best quarterback prospects in the forthcoming draft, if not the best.

The Hoosiers QB joined ESPN’s ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Monday, first acknowledging the host’s love for all things Indiana. ‘Mr. McAfee, I know your wife Mrs. McAfee is a Hoosier, so shout out to her,’ Mendoza opened with as any good candidate would.

Here are some of the highlights from Mendoza’s chat with the former Indianapolis Colts punter:

How Curt Cignetti convinced Fernando Mendoza to come to Indiana

“Indiana and coach Cignetti really sold me on becoming the best Fernando Mendoza possible, and also having my little brother here, Alberto Mendoza, I was able to get the good, the bad, the ugly of the situation. The transfer portal nowadays is like speed dating, and there was a couple of other blue-bloods in the mix, but the way I saw it develop and coach Cignetti really selling me on, ‘I don’t have a crystal ball. I don’t know what’s going to happen with this season, but I promise you if you come to my school instead of the other schools, you’re going to be the best Fernando Mendoza quarterback that you can become.’ And at that point I was sold, I was like, ‘Let’s go, ready to be a Hoosier.’”

Fernando Mendoza’s QB idol is not so popular in Indiana

“There’s a ton of quarterbacks, past, present and even in the future in college, I look at and watch their film. Past, I would say Tom Brady. That’s my guy. Grew up watching him. He’s my football idol. My parents are my character model and idol, but Tom Brady is my football idol.’

On Omar Cooper Jr.’s ‘catch of the year’ vs Penn State

“Catch of the year. That guy literally saved us the game. What a fantastic catch, what a fantastic play. For sure the best catch this season. And when we first stepped out on the field, you hear Mo Bamba rocking, it feels, you feel the stadium’s pulse. Everyone says Beaver Stadium is loud, we really felt it on the field. And overcoming the sack on the first play (of the final drive), everybody bouncing back, great resilience throughout the drive, great protection by the O-line, great catches by all the receivers, tight ends, and then we have the catch of the year at the end.

‘I know Omar, he played basketball, he’s from Indiana, so he has that basketball background, I just tried to put it up there, so he could either get an alley-oop dunk or a rebound, and he did it. At first, I thought, because usually you see the back foot always go down first, and then the foot closer, but he somehow levitated his foot, and had this imaginary cushion, which I still believe is God, all glory to God, and then the other foot tapped, not even on the white blade, tapped the little grass, and we have our offensive captain Pat Coogan after because everyone is going crazy, just pointing at the spot, telling the ref, ‘He’s in! He’s in!’ I thought we had to go back out for fourth down, once I saw the replay and coach Cignetti wail his arms in the air, I was like, ‘Let’s ****** go.’ Excuse my language.”

How Curt Cigentti keeps Indiana football motivated

“Coach Cignetti coming from the (Nick) Saban tree, he really uses and coins the term ‘rat poison.’ He really makes sure to never keep you complacent and always keep you hungry. Coach Cig is coaching us up at practice. If we’ve had a sloppy practice on the offensive side, you’ll hear about it. You’ll hear about it and I think he does a great job motivating us, not only when we’re up, but also when we’re down. For example, during the Oregon game, I threw a pick-six to tie the game, and at Oregon, at that time they’re No. 3 in the nation, he came up to me and he said, ‘Let’s have some fun.’ You’re like, you’re good. At that point, it made myself feel in the present moment and come to a little Zen moment, and I was able to lead the game-winning drive and score a touchdown. So coach Cignetti, not only has, you know, the hard-ass mentality that he’s always going to keep us hungry and keep us away from the rat poison, but he also knows how to motivate us. For example, Wisconsin at halftime.”

Fernando Mendoza’s secret: Daily mass and bible study

“On game day, I always make sure to do my daily meditation, 10 minutes to zone in, and I was make sure to watch daily mass on the day of the game. And leadership style, we have so many great leaders on the team across the team. So when I first got here to Bloomington, I’m not only able to learn from great leadership from coaches like coach Cignetti, coach (Mike) Shanahan, coach (Chandler) Whitmer also from a great team last year, we have All-American linebacker Aiden Fisher, I can go on and on about all these different guys and what great leaders they are. So to be able to pick and choose, and to see what attributes I can take to help elevate the leadership on our team, which already has a fantastic culture that I could help us take us to that next, next level.

‘And I would say a couple other things are quirky, what I’ll say about being able to be one of the guys, we try to go out to dinner every single week on Thursdays. We always do team bible study, and so having really that camaraderie with the guys instead of just being teammates, it’s different, because you really are brothers so whenever, so let’s say when I set (Charlie) Becker up on a pass and he gets blown up, it’s not like, ‘Man, I should have not thrown that and got him blown up,’ it’s like ‘That’s my boy, that’s my dawg,’ I don’t want to get him blown up, ‘that’s my brother.’ So I think that camaraderie that we have within the locker room and leadership, not just from the quarterback front but from all fronts is overwhelming and has really helped this team this season.”  

The men’s college basketball season is still in its infancy, but a few significant results are already in the books. As such, the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll looks a bit different this week.

Purdue strengthens its grip on the No. 1 spot after a solid road victory at Alabama during the week. The Boilermakers received 20 of 31 first-place votes to stay ahead of second-ranked Houston. The Cougars averted an upset bid from Auburn and claim nine No. 1 votes. Connecticut stays put at No. 3, and Duke retains the No. 4 spot while getting the remaining two top nods.

Arizona moves up a notch to enter the top five, boosted by a win against former Pac-12 rival UCLA.

TOP 25: Complete USA TODAY Sports men’s basketball poll

Louisville, thanks to a convincing rivalry win against Kentucky, vaults from No. 12 into a tie for No. 6 with Michigan. Illinois also gains six positions to No. 8 after upending Texas Tech. Florida moves up a spot to No. 9, and Brigham Young stays in the top 10 after a close loss to UConn.

Alabama slipped just a couple of places to No. 11, while Kentucky falls five spots to No. 13. Gonzaga leaps seven places to No. 12, while Texas Tech slides four places to No. 15.

No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Indiana join the rankings this week as Creighton and Auburn drop out.

The NBA season is a month in and we already have a solid sense of who teams are, and what they can become.

That has become most evident with the Houston Rockets, who lost two tough games against the defending-champion Oklahoma City Thunder and Detroit Pistons to open their season, but have since course corrected. The Rockets offense, in particular, has been stellar, with Kevin Durant drawing so much gravity away from other Houston players.

Alperen Şengün has been solid, and the team is also getting contributions from role players like Jabari Smith Jr. and Reed Sheppard.

On the other end of the spectrum, we also know that the Indiana Pacers, facing their rash of injuries, simply won’t have the offense capable to compete against even the most mediocre competition.

Here are USA TODAY Sports’ NBA power rankings after Week 4 of the 2025-26 regular season:

USA TODAY Sports NBA power rankings

Note: Records and stats through Nov. 16. Parentheses show movement from last week’s rankings

NBA Week 4 power rankings: Top 5

1. Oklahoma City Thunder, 13-1 (—)

2. Denver Nuggets, 10-2 (—)

3. Detroit Pistons, 11-2 (—)

4. Houston Rockets, 9-3 (+4)

5. Los Angeles Lakers, 10-4 (+2)

Though their recent competition has been mostly average, Detroit has the NBA’s longest active winning streak (nine games). Kevin Durant (35 points) shined in a tough overtime victory Sunday, Nov. 16 against the Magic and has Houston’s offensive rating (123.4 points per 100 possessions) ranked No. 1 in the NBA – up from last season (114.9; 12th). And LeBron James is ramping up practices and may return to the Lakers as soon as Tuesday.

NBA Week 4 power rankings: Nos. 6-10

6. New York Knicks, 8-4 (+1)

7. San Antonio Spurs, 9-4 (-3)

8. Cleveland Cavaliers, 9-5 (-3)

9. Minnesota Timberwolves, 8-5 (—)

10. Atlanta Hawks, 9-5 (+9)

Dropping a pair to the Warriors knocks the Spurs down some, and we have to question De’Aaron Fox’s decision not to throw it in to Victor Wembanyama Friday, Nov. 15, with the game on the line. The Cavaliers officially are having point guard issues, with Darius Garland’s (toe) extended absence. In games that Trae Young did not start or finish, the Hawks are now 8-2 and have won five in a row, prompting the question of whether it’s time to move on from the four-time All-Star.

NBA Week 4 power rankings: Nos. 11-15

11. Golden State Warriors, 9-6 (+1)

12. Toronto Raptors, 8-5 (+5)

13. Milwaukee Bucks, 8-6 (-3)

14. Phoenix Suns, 8-6 (+4)

15. Philadelphia 76ers, 7-5 (-1)

Things are odd for the Warriors; Stephen Curry went from dropping 49 Friday, Nov. 14 to just 9 on Sunday, and the locker room already feels tense with Draymond Green’s recent comments about ‘personal agendas.’ The Raptors are quietly taking down some East heavyweights, have a balanced team and rank second in the NBA in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.17). And the Suns have been a surprise on offense without Kevin Durant, as Dillon Brooks is averaging 23.6 points in the five games since he returned from a right groin injury.

NBA Week 4 power rankings: Nos. 16-20

16. Boston Celtics, 7-7 (—)

17. Miami Heat, 7-6 (-4)

18. Orlando Magic, 7-7 (+4)

19. Portland Trail Blazers, 6-7 (-4)

20. Chicago Bulls, 6-6 (-9)

Boston is hanging around and center Neemias Queta is bolstering the team’s perimeter shooting in a peculiar way: with precise and effective screens. The Heat will get Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo back soon, and they miss Adebayo’s presence badly; prior to Adebayo’s injury, Miami ranked 14th in defensive rebound percentage (69.8%). Over the five games since then, they rank 28th (61.0%). Losers of five consecutive and six of their last seven, the Bulls are in free fall.

NBA Week 4 power rankings: Nos. 21-25

21. Utah Jazz, 5-8 (+2)

22. Los Angeles Clippers, 4-9 (-2)

23. Memphis Grizzlies, 4-10 (-2)

24. Dallas Mavericks, 4-10 (+2)

25. Charlotte Hornets, 4-9 (-1)

Lauri Markkanen has been stellar for the Jazz, who may opt to capitalize on his value and move him. The Clippers continue to be the most underperforming disappointment of the season and are worst in the NBA at protecting the ball, turning it over 16.9% of their possessions. And the Mavericks might not have the record to show for it, but they’ve been more competitive recently, with No. 1 overall rookie Cooper Flagg (19.8 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game over his last four) settling into a rhythm.

NBA Week 4 power rankings: Nos. 26-30

26. Sacramento Kings, 3-11 (-1)

27. Brooklyn Nets, 2-11 (+3)

28. New Orleans Pelicans, 2-11 (-1)

29. Indiana Pacers, 1-12 (-1)

30. Washington Wizards, 1-12 (-1)

Ja Morant will be reevaluated in two weeks after suffering a Grade 1 right calf strain.
The injury comes after Morant was suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team.
Morant is currently averaging career lows in several statistical categories, including field goal percentage.
The Grizzlies are dealing with multiple injuries at the point guard position, complicating their depth.

Ja Morant’s already tumultuous start to the NBA season just became a little more complicated.

The Memphis Grizzlies announced Monday, Nov. 17 that Morant suffered a Grade 1 right calf strain and said he would be reevaluated in two weeks. This comes after Morant has clashed with the Grizzlies coaching staff, ultimately resulting in a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.

It started when Morant was short with reporters following a 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Friday, Oct. 31. During that session, Morant told reporters to ‘go ask the coaching staff’ when questioned about his performance.

Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo reportedly challenged Morant’s leadership and asked him to respond better to adversity. Morant reportedly bristled at that, and criticized Iisalo’s substitution patterns.

Here’s everything you need to know about Ja Morant’s injury:

Ja Morant injury update

Morant suffered the injury midway through the first quarter of Memphis’ game against the Cavaliers, Saturday, Nov. 15. He appeared to suffer a tweak during the game, favoring the injured calf and limping very subtly. When he went to run, he didn’t do so at full speed and his gait seemed impaired.

Then, during a stoppage in play when teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went to shoot free throws with 6:01 left to play in the period, Morant signaled to the bench and removed himself from the game. He went straight into the locker room and did not return.

The injury was described during the game as calf soreness.

Morant had sat out the team’s prior game, against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, Nov. 12, with a right ankle issue.

Who is Ja Morant’s backup on Grizzlies depth chart?

The Grizzlies already lacked depth at point guard, and this certainly complicates matters. Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe), Ty Jerome (calf) and Javon Small (toe) are all players who can fill in at the position, and all are missing time with their ailments.

During the Cavaliers game, guard Vince Williams Jr. replaced Morant, and he and Cam Spencer figure to get most of the minutes at point guard while Morant and his teammates are on the mend.

Memphis also recently signed rookie guard Jahmai Mashack to a two-way contract to provide more depth.

Ja Morant stats

Morant, 26, is averaging career lows in minutes per game (28.8), field goal percentage (35.9%), 3-point percentage (16.7%) and rebounds per game (3.5). His 17.9 points per game are just a fraction off of his career low total from his rookie season (17.8).

What does this mean for Ja Morant?

This comes as another frustration for Morant, who has struggled to take off this year. The suspension and clash with the coaching staff has led to speculation that the Grizzlies could consider moving Morant in a trade, though his availability and off-court conduct has cratered his value.

When healthy and engaged, Morant remains one of the more dynamic athletes in the NBA.

This injury, however, could complicate any potential personnel moves Memphis may be planning. For one, calf strains are tricky injuries that may be precursors to Achilles ruptures, a USA TODAY Sports analysis found out. So it makes sense for teams to be more cautious with players suffering these injuries.

The trade deadline, though, is Thursday, Feb. 5, so there’s ample time for Morant to heal. Still, for the 4-10 Grizzlies, this is yet another injury that slows the team’s development.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino was in the Oval Office on Monday for an announcement alongside U.S. President Donald Trump and the 2026 World Cup White House Task Force. They introduced ‘FIFA PASS,’ an expedited visa interview process for World Cup ticketholders visiting the United States.

The meeting originally was scheduled for 2 p.m. ET but began closer to 2:45 p.m. The administration announced an expedited visa process for World Cup ticket holders attempting to enter the country.

The meeting took place with a little more than two weeks left until the 2026 World Cup Draw, which will be held Dec. 5 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.

Infantino has been a frequent visitor at the White House since Trump took office in January. Most recently, Infantino visited in August to promote the start of ticket sales for the World Cup.

Buy World Cup tickets now

The United States will host the bulk of the games at the 2026 World Cup, which kicks off in June and will be co-hosted by Mexico and Canada. The tournament will feature 48 teams for the first time.

Trump established the Task Force in March via an executive order, which stated that it would ‘assist in the planning, organization and execution of the events surrounding the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.’

How to watch President Trump meeting with 2026 FIFA World Cup Task Force at White House

Watch the meeting live below or at the top of this page. You can also view it directly on the USA TODAY Sports and White House YouTube channels.

Trump, World Cup task force announce expedited visa screening

The Trump administration and the White House’s FIFA Task Force announced the FIFA Prioritized Appointments Scheduling System (PASS). The goal is to cut the wait time for vis interviews from several months to 6-8 weeks, President Trump said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged those with tickets to begin the visa process as soon as possible and not wait until the last minute.

‘Your ticket is not a visa,’ Rubio emphasized.

Trump, FIFA president don’t rule out moving World Cup games

A reporter asked President Trump about Seattle’s new Democratic socialist mayor-elect Katie Wilson, and whether her agenda and pre-existing crime issues there, could affect the city hosting six World Cup games next year. Trump turned the question to Infantino. The FIFA president did not rule out the possibility, though he emphasized early ticket sales suggest fans are not concerned about safety and security at this point.

‘Safety and security are the No. 1 priority for a successful World Cup,’ Infantino said in response. ‘We can see today that people have trust in the United States and we see the ticket sales, tickets sold, are record breaking. Almost 2 million sold already out of 2 million … because people, they know, they will be coming here and they will experience a safe and secure World Cup. It’s of course the responsibility of the government … and obviously, we will, we will discuss, we are working together. We have a Task Force for this and we must ensure that all fans coming from abroad here can experience a celebration of coming together, of the sport, and this goes on with 100% safety.’

Trump wants mayors, governors to ask for World Cup security help

Though Trump’s press conference included several topics besides the World Cup, it did come up again with a follow up question for the president about the logistics of potentially moving games and if there’s a deadline to do so. Trump focused his answer on the state of California, which will host games at SoFi Stadium outside Los Angeles and Levi’s Stadium in the Bay Area next summer, and his willingness to devote federal help to ensure safety around World Cup games.

“The governors are going to have to behave, the mayors are going to have to behave,’ Trump said. ‘… I love Los Angeles. If they want help during this, I would love to send in National Guard or whoever is necessary during that. I want it to be great. I would love it to be in Los Angeles. I love the place. It’s a natural for Los Angeles. If we think there’s going to be crime, if we’re obstructed by the governor – maybe he won’t obstruct, maybe he’ll be great – but I’d love for him to call and say could I have some extra help. Because if there’s even a hint of a problem, we want to get in there before the problem occurs. We want to make it totally safe for … all of the great people that are going to be there, and I think it’s going to happen. I would be honored to help California if they’re going to have a problem. … We can be in there in 24 hours notice.’

New York Giants rookie edge rusher Abdul Carter was benched for the first series of Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers for what he said was ‘a mistake during the week that was detrimental to the team.’

On Monday, details behind what drove interim coach Mike Kafka’s decision emerged.

Carter was held out of action to start the game after he slept through a team walk-through in the lead-up to the game, The Athletic and ESPN reported.

Carter later countered the reports on social media.

In his first game leading the team after coach Brian Daboll’s firing, Kafka made the decision to address Carter’s trend of being late to meetings this season, The Athletic reported.

Kafka did not divulge details about any incident, saying only he had discussed the matter with Carter.

‘That was the coach’s decision,’ Kafka said after the game. ‘It’s something we talked about. I want to make sure it was my decision. So, we’ll just keep the rest of that in-house.’

The No. 3 overall pick in April, Carter has just ½ sack in his rookie season but is tied for 17th in the NFL with 37 total pressures, according to Next Gen Stats.

Georgia has moved up to the No. 4 spot after a dominant win against Texas.
Oklahoma’s victory over Alabama has propelled the Sooners to No. 8 in the rankings.
Texas fell eight spots to No. 18, significantly hurting its playoff chances.

Georgia inches up to No. 4, Oklahoma rises to No. 8 and Alabama drops to No. 9 as the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Re-Rank 1-136 grapples with several key results in the SEC.

After dominating Texas in a 35-10 win, the Bulldogs take over as the team to beat in a conference that still has one unbeaten in No. 3 Texas A&M, which pulled off a historic comeback to beat South Carolina.

Oklahoma rises on the back of a 23-21 win at Alabama. Thanks to what is by far the best win of the Brent Venables era, the Sooners are smack in the middle of the College Football Playoff race with games against Missouri and LSU to end the month.

The loss dumps Alabama five spots. Also moving down is No. 10 Notre Dame, which falls one spot due to Oklahoma’s rise. Texas drops eight spots to No. 18 and is basically eliminated from the at-large mix. Georgia Tech falls three to No. 15 after narrowly escaping against the worst team in the ACC in Boston College.

One other change near the top of the re-rank has Texas Tech climbing to No. 6 and leapfrogging No. 7 Mississippi after the Rebels failed to impress in a 34-24 win at home against Florida.

The back end of the top 25 features several Group of Five teams surging toward the finish line of the regular season. No. 21 Tulane leads all Group of Five teams, followed by No. 22 James Madison and No. 23 North Texas. Next comes No. 27 Navy and No. 33 San Diego State.

Ja Morant will be reevaluated in two weeks after suffering a Grade 1 right calf strain.
The injury comes after Morant was suspended for one game for conduct detrimental to the team.
Morant is currently averaging career lows in several statistical categories, including field goal percentage.
The Grizzlies are dealing with multiple injuries at the point guard position, complicating their depth.

Ja Morant’s already tumultuous start to the NBA season just became a little more complicated.

The Memphis Grizzlies announced Monday, Nov. 17 that Morant suffered a Grade 1 right calf strain and said he would be reevaluated in two weeks. This comes after Morant has clashed with the Grizzlies coaching staff, ultimately resulting in a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the team.

It started when Morant was short with reporters following a 117-112 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers Friday, Oct. 31. During that session, Morant told reporters to ‘go ask the coaching staff’ when questioned about his performance.

Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo reportedly challenged Morant’s leadership and asked him to respond better to adversity. Morant reportedly bristled at that, and criticized Iisalo’s substitution patterns.

Here’s everything you need to know about Ja Morant’s injury:

Ja Morant injury update

Morant suffered the injury midway through the first quarter of Memphis’ game against the Cavaliers, Saturday, Nov. 15. He appeared to suffer a tweak during the game, favoring the injured calf and limping very subtly. When he went to run, he didn’t do so at full speed and his gait seemed impaired.

Then, during a stoppage in play when teammate Kentavious Caldwell-Pope went to shoot free throws with 6:01 left to play in the period, Morant signaled to the bench and removed himself from the game. He went straight into the locker room and did not return.

The injury was described during the game as calf soreness.

Morant had sat out the team’s prior game, against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, Nov. 12, with a right ankle issue.

Who is Ja Morant’s backup on Grizzlies depth chart?

The Grizzlies already lacked depth at point guard, and this certainly complicates matters. Scotty Pippen Jr. (toe), Ty Jerome (calf) and Javon Small (toe) are all players who can fill in at the position, and all are missing time with their ailments.

During the Cavaliers game, guard Vince Williams Jr. replaced Morant, and he and Cam Spencer figure to get most of the minutes at point guard while Morant and his teammates are on the mend.

Memphis also recently signed rookie guard Jahmai Mashack to a two-way contract to provide more depth.

Ja Morant stats

Morant, 26, is averaging career lows in minutes per game (28.8), field goal percentage (35.9%), 3-point percentage (16.7%) and rebounds per game (3.5). His 17.9 points per game are just a fraction off of his career low total from his rookie season (17.8).

What does this mean for Ja Morant?

This comes as another frustration for Morant, who has struggled to take off this year. The suspension and clash with the coaching staff has led to speculation that the Grizzlies could consider moving Morant in a trade, though his availability and off-court conduct has cratered his value.

When healthy and engaged, Morant remains one of the more dynamic athletes in the NBA.

This injury, however, could complicate any potential personnel moves Memphis may be planning. For one, calf strains are tricky injuries that may be precursors to Achilles ruptures, a USA TODAY Sports analysis found out. So it makes sense for teams to be more cautious with players suffering these injuries.

The trade deadline, though, is Thursday, Feb. 5, so there’s ample time for Morant to heal. Still, for the 4-10 Grizzlies, this is yet another injury that slows the team’s development.