The White Stag sign that has watched over Portland's Old Town neighborhood for decades has a new neighbor glowing beside its familiar deer silhouette: Ja Morant, cocked back for a dunk in bright neon. The addition appeared overnight ahead of the Trail Blazers guard's first regular-season game in a Portland jersey, a Wednesday night home opener against the Phoenix Suns at Moda Center.
Crews worked to install the new piece on Tuesday, and it stayed hidden under black tarps until it was revealed, according to KATU. The finished display reads “LOOK WHO'S UP” alongside the Nike Swoosh and Morant's own signature shoe logo, the station reports. It's timed to tip-off, which KATU notes was set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Moda Center.
The sign itself is no stranger to the spotlight. It normally displays the words “Portland, Oregon” along with its signature leaping deer, and sits as a fixture the City of Portland acquired more than a decade ago and continues to maintain, per the same KATU report. This is a temporary overlay, not a permanent change to the landmark.
A Nike Campaign Built Around Morant's Arrival
The sign makeover is part of a broader Nike advertising push tied to the start of the NBA season, according to The Oregonian. Morant, a Nike endorser, was set to play his first regular-season game as a Trail Blazer Wednesday night, the outlet notes. Nike executive Ann Miller told the paper that having Morant based in Portland, home to Nike's Beaverton headquarters, simplifies things on the business side too: the proximity will make it easier to visit with Morant during the season, which will help with product development, she said.
That product line is already rolling. Morant's fourth signature shoe, the Ja 4, launched in August and retails for $140, the Oregonian reported. Nike CEO Elliott Hill has said the shoes have posted strong sell-throughs not just domestically but internationally as well, though the broader basketball sneaker category has been largely flat for more than a decade, according to consultant Matt Powell of BCE Consulting, cited in the same report.
The Oregonian also frames Morant's move as symbolically significant for the franchise: he's described as the first Nike signature athlete to play for the Trail Blazers since Scottie Pippen did so more than two decades ago.
How Morant Landed in Portland
Morant's path to Portland ran through a 2026 trade that sent him from the Memphis Grizzlies to the Trail Blazers, with Portland sending forwards Jerami Grant and Kris Murray back to Memphis as part of the deal, according to NBA.com. He's the 2020 NBA Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-Star who has averaged 22.4 points for his career, the league's official site notes.
His most recent season with Memphis was a short one: Morant averaged 19.5 points and 8.1 assists over just 20 games in 2025-26, NBA.com reports, with the league attributing his limited availability to injuries and suspensions that have held him to only 79 games over the past three seasons combined. The New York Times' The Athletic similarly noted that his 2025-26 campaign ended after 20 games, the second-fewest of his seven-year career, and that his dunk totals have fallen off sharply — he's totaled 32 made dunks over the last three seasons combined, down from an average of 52 per season during his first four years in the league.
For now, the neon version of Morant gets to do what the real one hasn't managed as often lately: stay up in the air. A spokesperson said Morant will be dunking on the White Stag sign until Nov. 7, per KATU's report, giving Portland hoops fans a few weeks to look up at Old Town and see their newest star frozen mid-flight.
