Kenneth Lofton Jr. has been named the 2022-23 NBA G League Rookie of the Year.

Lofton Jr. averaged 20.2 points and 10.5 rebounds in 17 games for the Memphis Hustle. 

Santa Cruz Warriors guard Lester Quinones and Rio Grande Valley Vipers forward Darius Days finished second and third in voting, respectively.

Past winners of the award include Paul Reed, Quinn Coo, Robert Covington and Tim Frazier.

Ja Morant played in his first game since receiving an eight-game suspension on Wednesday. Morant came off the bench and checked in with 3:05 left in the first quarter.

The Memphis Grizzlies' crowd cheered loudly for Morant when he brought the ball up the court for the first time and again after his first basket.

"It meant a lot, man," said Morant. "Obviously, I'm thankful and grateful for everybody who's been supporting me during this time. It definitely helped me a lot, definitely made me feel a little better. Eased everything that was going on. Felt good to be back. Super excited. Glad we was able to get the win."

Morant said he meditated before the game to attempt to calm his nerves. 

Ja Morant participated in his first practice with the Memphis Grizzlies following an eight-game suspension and is scheduled to play in his first game on Wednesday. 

"Obviously took that time to better myself, get in a better space mentally," Morant said. "It's an ongoing process, a continued process for me. Obviously, I've been there for two weeks, but that doesn't mean I'm completely better. So that's an ongoing process for me that I've still been continuing since I've come out."

Morant said that he had become concerned about his stress level before the controversy in Colorado.

said he has realized over the past two weeks how much he has at stake.

"Obviously, I've made mistakes in the past that cause a lot of negative attention -- not only to me, but my family as well, my team, the organization -- and I'm completely sorry for that," said Morant. "So my job now is, like I said, to be more responsible, more smarter, and don't cause any of that no more."

Dillon Brooks has been suspended one game without pay for receiving his 18th technical foul of the 2022-23 season.

Under NBA rules, a player or coach is automatically suspended without pay for one game once he receives his 16th technical foul during a regular season. For every two additional technical fouls received during that regular season, the player or coach will be automatically suspended without pay for an additional game.

Brooks received his most recent technical foul with 7:26 remaining in the third quarter of the Grizzlies’ 112-108 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on March 20 at FedExForum.  

Brooks will serve his suspension March 22 when the Grizzlies play host to the Houston Rockets at FedExForum.

Memphis Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks was called for his 18th technical foul of the season. That technical came from taunting Dallas Mavericks reserve Theo Pinson during the Grizzlies win on Monday night.

Picking up an 18th technical foul means Brooks will serve another one-game suspension. Brooks had already been suspended for a game when he got his 16th technical foul on the season. The NBA suspends players one game for every other technical foul they accrue, starting with their 16th. The count then resets at the start of the NBA Playoffs, with suspensions starting on the seventh technical foul of the postseason.

Brooks is aware he's hurting his team with the suspensions and admitted it's something he needs to better about.

“I’ve got to tone it down and get back to my mindfulness practice and find ways to channel it better,” Brooks said.

Memphis is current battling the Sacramento Kings for the second seed in the Western Conference. Barring an unlikely rescinding of his latest technical foul, Brooks will miss the Grizzlies game on Wednesday vs the Houston Rockets. That game appears to be when Ja Morant will make his return to action for Memphis, following and eight-game suspension.

Taylor Jenkins said he was 'hopeful' that Ja Morant would return to the Memphis Grizzlies' lineup on Wednesday against the Houston Rockets.

"We're hopeful for Wednesday, so long as everything medically clears out," said Jenkins before the Grizzlies' win against the Mavs on Monday.

Morant rejoined the Grizzlies following his eight-game suspension. The team held him out against the Mavs so he could ramp up his conditioning.

"The reception was great. Everyone welcomed him with open arms. Excited to have him back," said Jenkins about Morant's return.

The Grizzlies went 5-3 without Morant. 

Ja Morant will remain out for the Memphis Grizzlies game on Monday against the Dallas Mavericks. The Grizzlies are listing Morant out for return to competition reconditioning.

Morant has completed his eight-game suspension. However, Memphis has not committed to when their star guard will return to play. Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said that Morant will need time to get back up to speed before playing again.

Memphis went 5-3 while Morant was away from the team. That includes wins in five of their last six games.

Throughout the Memphis Grizzlies win over the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, Dillon Brooks and Klay Thompson could be seen jawing at each other. Brooks and Thompson were talking trashing, with Brooks yelling "You suck!" at Thompson, while Thompson reminded Brooks of how many rings the Warriors have won.

Following the game, Brooks said the Grizzlies used that as motivation.

"He's got four rings. That's all he was saying. It's motivation to us," Brooks said. "We want a ring as well. Being able to go through the process of steps that we did last year, we keep going and learning from it all. It's friendly trash talk, but I just hold a lot of real estate over there in San Francisco."

From Thompson's side, he didn't seem overly phased by Brooks' trash talk.

"I don't care about Dillon Brooks," Thompson said. "When he retires, I don't think anyone will ever talk about Dillon Brooks ever again. I promise you. It's sweet right now, but wait 10 years."

Dillon Brooks has been fined $35,000 for the unsportsmanlike act of shoving a camera person on the sideline after pursuing a loose ball.

Brooks’ actions occurred with 2:40 remaining in the second quarter of the Grizzlies’ 138-119 loss to the Miami Heat on March 15 at Miami-Dade Arena.

Ja Morant sat down for an interview with ESPN's Jalen Rose following a meeting with Adam Silver. Morant was suspended eight games without pay by the NBA and Silver called Morant's conduct "irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous."

Morant recently exited a counseling program in Florida.

"Honestly, I feel like we put ourselves in that situation with our past mistakes, and now it's only right that we focus in and lock in on being smarter and more responsible, holding each other accountable for everything," Morant said referring to his inner circle. "I feel like in the past we didn't know what was at stake. And now finally me having that time to realize everything, have that time alone, I realize that now.

"I realize what I have to lose, and for us as a group, what we have to lose. It's pretty much just that being more responsible, more smarter and staying away from all the bad decisions."

Morant said the gun displayed in the video "wasn't mine" but did not specify who it belonged to or how it ended up in his hands.

"It's not who I am," Morant said. "I don't condone it or any type of violence, but I take full responsibility from my actions. I made a bad mistake. I can see the image that I painted over myself with my recent mistakes. But in the future, I'm going to show everybody who Ja really is, what I'm about and change this narrative that everybody got."