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Ja Morant's followers on Instagram might have already seen his Instagram stories, which feature a picture of an individual on a motorcycle. The picture was accompanied by the caption:
"Long Live You Forever Brodie. Watch Over Me While I Spin 10/11 #LLT."
Morant also Tweeted "Long Live Trey," and fans who have been following him for a long time might have also noticed that #LLT was his Twitter bio before.
With these posts, Ja Morant was paying tribute to his cousin, Trey Beverly. Beverly died in 2017 due to injuries suffered from a motorcycle accident. He was 26 years old when he died.
Trey played a huge role in motivating Morant and helping him become the star that he is now. Trey's influence on Ja was covered by Memphis Grizzlies beat writer David Cobb in an article published in 2019.
In the article, Ja Morant was quoted as saying that he looked up to his cousin, who encouraged Morant and told him that he was going to make it into the NBA if he put in the work.
Morant proved his cousin right. He continued to put in the hard work which led to him becoming the second-round pick in 2019, just behind Zion Williamson. Furthermore, his hard work and talent led to him taking home the Rookie of the Year Award.
Since then, Morant has earned two all-star team nods (2022 and 2023) and he is one of the fastest-rising stars in the NBA. In his four years in the league, he has averaged 22.4 points, 7.4 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game. Morant has not only proved that he belongs in the NBA, but he has shown he has what it takes to be among the league's best.
Ja Morant paid tribute to Trey Beverly on the night he was drafted
After Ja Morant was selected second overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in 2019, he and his father were interviewed by Maria Taylor. During the interview, Morant talked about how good he felt to finally make it into the NBA and where he draws his confidence from.
Maria Taylor also discussed the kind of workouts that Ja's father, Tee Morant, would make him go through. As the interview concluded, Ja got close to the microphone one more time and said "Long live Trey," as a tribute to his late cousin.
