Jaren Jackson Jr. Is Convinced Water Is Behind His Step Forward This Season

Since Ja Morant became sidelined with a sprained left knee, the Memphis Grizzlies have won six of their last seven games and sit fourth in the Western Conference at 15-11. A significant portion of that run has been the play of fourth-year big man Jaren Jackson Jr., who’s averaged 21 points, 5.4 rebounds, 1.9 blocks, and one steal while shooting 41.3 percent beyond the arc over that span.

He’s playing the best basketball of his young career and attributes his improvement to one very important thing: water.

“If you drink water when you’re dead tired, that’s just ’cause you needed it really badly,” Jackson said following the Grizzlies’ win against the Los Angeles Lakers Thursday night. “You just gotta keep drinking water, and then when you go home, you get a good meal, drink some water. It’s just, it tastes good.”

When someone off the screen interjected with an inquiry about the topic at hand, Jackson made clear what he was discussing and why he was discussing it.

“I’m drinking water, man, that’s what I’m talking about,” he said. “My questions are all about water right now, for real. Big, huge water guy, I’m telling you. Drink water.”

From there, Jackson went on to explain how he is getting more water into his day-to-day life. It involves a canteen.

Jackson is not the first rising star to give water a shout out during a post-game media session as of late. LaMelo Ball did the same a few weeks back after a win over the Indiana Pacers. Both of these players are enjoying delightful seasons and water, in some capacity, seems to playing a prominent role for them.

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