While he showed stretches of taking a leap offensively, this season was a huge step forward on the defensive side of the ball for Jaren Jackson Jr., who will leave the 2022 NBA season as the league leader in blocks and blocks per game.
The former Spartan racked up 177 blocks on the season, good for 2.3 blocks per game along his way to setting a new Memphis Grizzlies franchise record for blocks in a season, passing Pau Gasol. Jackson did a fantastic job this year of limiting his fouls, which was something that inhibited him in the past.
The Grizzlies will head into the 2022 NBA playoffs as the No. 2 seed and they will face the winner of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game on Saturday night.