Since his Rookie season, Ja Morant Rookie Cards have been a hot commodity for basketball card collectors.
Jamel “Ja” Morant who grew up in a basketball home with both parents playing in their younger days. Ja went to Murray State College as he wasn’t a highly sought after recruit. Despite going to such a small school, Ja Morant went on to be selected 2nd by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2019 NBA Draft as a Ultra-Athletic Point Guard.
The Grizzlies coming out of their “Grit and Grind” era found their Franchise player as Ja averaged 18 points and 7 assists per game in his first year. Ja won the NBA Rookie of the year with all but 1 first place vote (One going to Zion despite playing 24 games). As of 2022, Ja Morant is considered a strong MVP Candidate and possible generational defining talent. He signed a 5 year 190 million contract with the Grizzlies in 2022 committing to him for years to come.
Most Valuable Ja Morant Rookie Cards
Donruss Rated Rookie
The classic base rookie card, Donruss’ Rated Rookie, features Ja with a very generic background exactly like years before it. Due to being a MVP level player in 2021, PSA has graded over 9,500 rated rookie cards for Ja Morant. Which is the 2nd most of a single player that has been graded by PSA for 2019 Donruss.
Parallels include Green Flood, Infinity, Green/Yellow Laser, Orange Laser, Silver Press Proof /349, Purple Press Proof /199, Red /99, Green Laser /99, Red Press Proof /99, Pink Laser /50, Blue Press Proof /49, Blue /35, Yellow Laser /25, Purple Laser /15, Red/Blue /15, Purple/Green Laser /10, Gold Press Proof /10, Gold /10, Black Press Proof 1/1, Black 1/1
Optic Rated Rookie
Optic differed slightly from the base Donruss rated rookie mostly in a photo variation and a less smoky background. Keeping the same Trend as the Donruss rated rookie, PSA has graded almost 25,000 Ja rookie cards which happens to equal Zion Williamson in terms of volume.
Parallels include Holo, Checkerboard, Red/Green, Blue, Hyper Pink, Purple, Purple Shock, White Sparkle, Premium Base /249 Orange /199, Lime Green /149, Red /99, Purple /95, Pink /79, Blue /59, Blue /50, Black /39, Purple Stars FOTL /29, Pink /25, Pink /20, Gold /10, Black Gold /8, Lucky Envelopes /8, Green /5, Gold Vinyl 1/1, Black 1/1.
NBA Hoops
2019 NBA Hoops featured both a normal Ja Morant rookie card and a tribute rookie card, which was a call back to previous NBA Hoops styling. PSA has graded ~12,000 #259 normal Ja Morant rookie card variation and ~8,100 #297 tribute variation cards. If you are a Ja fan, you will have no trouble finding these cards.
Parallels include for the normal set Winter, Purple Winter, Blue, Neon Green, Purple, Red Backs, Teal Explosion, Yellow , Premium Box Base /199, Silver /199, Green /99, Red /75, Blue Explosion /49, Teal /49, Artist Proof /25, Orange /25, Orange Explosion /25, Red Explosion /15, Gold Artist Proof /10, Black Artist Proof 1/1.
Chronicles
2019 Chronicles included the following sets Prestige, Threads, Base Panini, Luminance, Playbook, Updated Donruss Rated Rookie, Marquee, XR, Essentials, Elite Black Box, Recon, Majestic, Gala, Limited, Titanium Draft Position, Vanguard, Updated Prizm, Updated Donruss Optic (Traded), Hometown Heroes, Crusade, Phoenix, Score, Flux, Classics, and Rookies & Stars.
PSA has graded 58,000+ Ja Morant Rookie cards with Luminance being the most rated at 11,000. Parallels include Bronze, Green, Pink, Teal, Silver, Red /149, Blue /99, Titanium Jersey Numbered, Limited Red /75, Limited Blue /49, Purple /49, Titanium Draft Year /19, Gold /10, Gala Base /8, Platinum 1/1
Prizm
2019 Panini’s Main Line retail brand didn’t do much differently than previous years. It did have a heavy amount of Ja cards. PSA has graded ~54,000 Prizm Ja Morant rookie cards which is almost 10% of all 2019 Prizm graded cards and barely less than Zion Williamson.
Parallels include Silver, Green, Hyper, Red/White /Blue, Blue/Yellow/Green, Tiger Stripe, Green Cracked Ice, Orange Cracked Ice, Pink Cracked Ice, Red Cracked Ice, Purple wave, Ruby wave, Red /299, Blue /199, Fast Break Blue /175, Cracked Ice Purple /149, Fast Break Red /125, Cracked Ice Blue /99, Choice Red /88, Purple /75, Fast Break Purple /75, Fast Break Pink /50, Orange /49, Pink Pulsar /42, Purple Pulsar /35, Mojo /25, Green Pulsar /25, Fast Break Bronze /20, Gold /10, Choice Green /8, Fast Break Neon Green /8, Black 1/1, Nebula 1/1
Illusions
2019 Illusions looked incredibly better when compared to its 2020 counterpart. However, it was still less popular than other retail brands. PSA has graded ~4,370 of these cards with over 3,500 being base. Parallels include Bronze, Emerald, Orange, Pink, Sapphire, Starlight, Ruby /199, Yellow /149, Teal /125, Red /99, Black /49, Blue /25, Gold /10, Green /5, Purple 1/1
Mosaic
2019 was the first year for Mosaic as a set. It was previously seen as a Prizm parallel. The set featured Ja Morant’s Base rookie #219 and NBA debut rookie cards #274. PSA has graded ~31,000 #219 and ~17,600 #274.
Parallels include Red, Camo Pink, Green, Reactive Blue, Reactive Orange, Genesis, Peacock, Red Wave, Gold Wave, Fast Break Silver, Blue /99, Fusion Red /88, Fast Break Blue /85, Fast Break Purple /50, Purple /49, White /25, Orange Fluorescent /25, Purple Snakeskin /24, Purple & Gold /20, Blue Fluorescent /15, Fast Break Gold /10, Green Swirl /10, Choice Gold /8, Snakeskin Gold /8, Black 1/1, Fast Break Black 1/1, Snakeskin Black 1/1, Nebula 1/1
Sticker Collection
2019 Sticker Collection went with a movie reel like look in its design. These cards tended to be very cheap with each pack containing only one card and 5 stickers.
These cards tend to be very common and not in high demand. PSA has graded ~292 Cards and ~300 Stickers. Parallels include Silver, Blue /299, Red /199, Aqua /75, Pink /35, Gold /10, Green /5, Black 1/1, Purple 1/1. No Parallels for stickers.
Select
At the time a hobby set, Select featured a lot of die-cuts and contained three different tiers of cards: Concourse, Premium Level, and Courtside. PSA has graded ~8,500 Concourse, ~2,500 Premier level, and ~725 Courtside.
Parallels include for Concourse Disco, Silver, Scope, Tri-Color, Zebra, Light Blue /299, Red /199, White /149, Neon Green /75, Red Disco /49, Blue Disco /25, Tie-Dye /25, Neon Orange Pulsar /13, Gold Disco /10, Gold /10, Lucky Envelopes /8, Green /5, Black Disco 1/1, Black 1/1
Absolute Memorabilia
Known for its thick card stock, this hobby/retail set features two Ja rookie cards with one base and one ‘Rookies Yellow’. PSA has graded ~670 Ja Morant Rookie cards with ~400 being Retail and ~560 Yellow. Parallels include retail, Red /199, Blue /99, Orange /75, Purple /25, Gold /10, Green /5, Black 1/1
Donruss Elite
2019 Donruss Elite’s Style was heavily focused on sharp lines and polygons. This was the first year Donruss Elite was given its own box and not contained in Chronicles since 2015.
A defining feature of Donruss Elite is the fact that all rookies are numbered by default with the expectation of ‘Red’. Therefore, this set is rare for Ja as PSA has only graded ~160. Parallels include Red, /299 Base, Aspirations /99, Blue /99, Status /99, Purple /49, Gold /10, Black 1/1
Revolution
A flashy hobby set, Revolution features a sparkly Ja Morant mid-dribble. PSA has graded ~1,800 rookie Revolution Ja Morant cards with more than half being base.
Parallels include Fractal, Chinese New Year, Astro, Groove, Galactic, Impact /149, Cosmic /100, Chinese New Year Emerald /88, Sunburst /75, Cubic /50, Lava /10, Chinese New Year Gold /8.
Obsidian
A hobby box known for its dark black cards featuring colorful patterns and geometrical lines. This was the second year that the Obsidian set was a stand-alone box. Due to the fact these boxes only contain 7 cards per pack, this is another example of a rare set with few Ja rookie cards.
PSA has only graded ~230 Obsidian Ja rookie cards. Parallels include Electric Etch White Pulsar, Purple /75, Orange /50, Green /25, Blue /16, Yellow /10, Asia Tmall /8, Red /5, Contra /3, White Mojo 1/1
Origins
2019 Origins debuted with a heavy emphasis on rookies from the 2019 draft class. Origin cards had a paint canvas like cardstock with swirls of color as the background. The cards oddly enough had the word ‘Origins’ partially cut at the bottom.
PSA has graded ~200 base cards and ~50 autos. Parallels include Red, Blue /99, Orange /75, Pink /35, Turquoise /25, Purple /21, Gold /10, Green /5, Black 1/1
Spectra
Spectra’s 2019 set features a very unusual design with mostly colorless base cards. Being a very low cards per box for a hobby box, Base wasn’t very common as half of the box or inserts or Parallels.
It did however feature two photo variations of Ja rookie card. PSA has graded ~490 all of which fall under the same Card# of 119. Parallels include Silver, Celestial /99, Interstellar /49, Meta /25, Gold /10, Universal Die-Cut /8, Marble /5, Nebula 1/1
Final Thoughts on Ja Morant Rookie Cards
Ja Morant is a strong MVP level candidate player who was drafted in a very top heavy 2019 Draft class. Averaging almost 30 points and 7 assists a game, Ja Morant is a powerful offensive player relying on high-flying dunks and athletic layups.
He has slowly developed a decent 3pt shooting as well. The only possible red flag with Ja is injury history and future. As a athletic focused point guard, Ja Morant legs take a lot of abuse leading to a possible falloff similar to Vince Carter or Russell Westbrook. Nonetheless Ja’s stock is constantly rising as a future superstar of the NBA League!
