Missing the playoffs is a bummer for any NBA team, but there are advantages to skipping the postseason. For one thing, you getter better picks when the draft rolls around, but for another, individual players get some extra time to recuperate, train for next season, and of course, be spectators of the sport they love.
But sometimes seeing NBA stars sitting courtside during playoff games means a little more than just hanging out and taking in the sights. And at Game 4 of the First Round series between the Detroit Pistons and the Orlando Magic on NBC and Peacock, two players proved it.
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During Game 4 Monday night in Orlando, a pair of NBA stars whose teams didn’t make the postseason showed up to sit together courtside: Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies and Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Utah Jazz. So, why did a player from Memphis and a player from Utah fly out to Orlando to watch the game? They don’t need a good reason, but Morant and Jackson had one anyway: They were there to support their former teammate, Magic guard Desmond Bane.
Though he was drafted by the Celtics back in 2020, Bane was traded to the Grizzlies ahead of his rookie season, and spent the first five seasons of his NBA career in Memphis. Both Morant and Jackson were already on the team by the time he showed up, and the three spent all five of Bane’s seasons with the Grizzlies together, including four playoff appearances. In 2025 Bane moved to the Magic, and earlier this year Jackson moved to the Jazz, while Morant’s future in Memphis remains up in the air amid offseason shuffles. Still, despite the scattering, the three former teammates came together Monday night, as Morant and Jackson cheered on Bane’s performance against the Pistons.
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Bane had a good game Monday night, shooting 5-10 from three-point range and totaling 22 points, making him the top scorer for Orlando as the Magic won the game 94-88 to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series. Game 5 is set for Wednesday in Detroit.
At a postgame press conference, when asked about Morant and Jackson celebrating with him courtside as he racked up threes, Bane had nothing but love for his former teammates.
“It’s special,” Bane said. “Those are guys that I spent five years with, started my career with, made a lot of memories with. So I’m super thankful that they came out to support. It’s a friendship that’ll last forever. Those are guys that mean a lot to me.”
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