The NBA hopes Memphis guard Ja Morant will be able to play Sunday, after the star missed Thursday's start of a two-game NBA Europe series against the Orlando Magic with a right calf issue.
Morant was in Berlin with his team for Thursday's game, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver expressed some optimism that the two-time All-Star will play when the Grizzlies and Magic meet again in London.
“I know he has a tremendous following globally," Silver said. "And I wish he were able to play tonight. I’m still holding out hope he’ll be able to play when we’re in London on Sunday. So, yes, I’m disappointed he’s not on the floor tonight, but I understand he’s injured.”
It was known ahead of time that Morant would miss Thursday's game; teams post injury reports a day before a game in most cases. That means Saturday is the most likely date that the Grizzlies would reveal some sort of decision about Morant's availability for the London game.
Morant's absence on Thursday comes as trade speculation continues to swirl. Memphis entered Thursday's game at 17-22, 10th in the Western Conference and seven games out of sixth — the last guaranteed playoff spot.
Morant sidestepped questions Wednesday about his trade status and his future with Memphis.
Morant is making about $39.4 million this season and is in the third year of a five-year, $197.2 million contract. He’s averaging 19 points and 7.6 assists per game this season, 22.4 points and 7.4 assists for his career.
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Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant looks on from the bench in the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Phoenix Suns Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)
NEW YORK (AP) — A surging stock market and a flurry of deal making padded the profits of Wall Street's two big investment banks, which both saw a double-digit jump in profits in the fourth quarter.
Goldman Sachs's net earnings rose 12% from a year earlier, posting a profit of $4.62 billion, or $14.01 a share. Meanwhile Morgan Stanley said it earned $4.4 billion, or $2.68 per share, compared to a profit of $3.71 billion, or $2.22 per share, compared to a year earlier.
Wall Street has been bolstered by the Trump administration's deregulatory policies, which has led corporations to seek out mergers and acquisitions, as well as the surge of investor interest in artificial intelligence companies and those who stand to benefit from the mass adoption of technologies like ChatGPT.
Fourth-quarter investment fee revenues over at Goldman were up 25% year-over-year and Morgan Stanley saw a 47% jump in revenue in its investment banking division. Both banks said their investment fee backlog, which is a signal of how much deal making is still pending that banks are working on, increased significantly in the fourth quarter.
Goldman and Morgan's results reflect the strong earnings out of the other big banks that reported their results this week. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup all saw jumps in fourth-quarter profits, but their results were dampened by the ongoing tensions that Wall Street is having with the White House over the issue of the independence of the Federal Reserve and President Donald Trump's interest in capping credit card interest rates at 10%.
Along with a strong investment banking performance, Goldman Sachs also agreed to sell off its Apple Card credit card portfolio to JPMorgan Chase last week, effectively exiting its brief experiment in consumer banking. The bank sold the credit card portfolio at a discount to JPMorgan, a sign of how desperately Goldman wanted to exit the business and put the Apple Card behind it.
This story has been corrected to show that Morgan Stanley's investment banking revenues rose 47%, not 22%.
FILE - Electronic signage is shown at Morgan Stanley headquarters, Thursday, March 4, 2021 in New York. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2016, file photo, the logo for Goldman Sachs appears above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
