The Memphis Grizzlies have suspended Ja Morant from all team activities after a video showing the All-Star guard holding a gun in a social media video while riding in a car with friends began circulating on social media Saturday night. This is the second time in three months Morant has been seen on social media with a gun.
Not to mention the other alleged incidents over the past year where Morant, violence and/or the threat of violence was present. A big punishment is on the way, and many in the sports world are reacting.
Former NBA #1 draft pick Kwame Brown went on a video rant about Morant’s poor choices involving guns.
Morant Continues To Exercise Poor Judgment
“You like to play with guns, huh, boy?” Brown ranted. “… So, instead of you just being at your house buying all the guns you want, playing with all the guns you want off camera, you want to get in trouble for having a gun at a club, give a bullsh*t apology, and then show a gun on Instagram Live. I’ve heard of NBA Youngboy. But you NBA dumb boy. You gotta be the dumbest motherfu*ker in the league.”
ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins, who began calling Morant and the Grizzlies out over a year ago for adopting a thug persona, believes Morant is going to be out of the league if he continues.
Perkins’ colleague Stephen A. Smith hopes Morant can get the help that he needs, as does former NBA player Greg Anthony. Some, like J.R. Smith, are at a loss for words in trying to understand what is going with Morant.
Could Ja Morant Be Suspended For Half The NBA Season?
The NBA and commissioner Adam Silver are looking into this matter. The Grizzlies as mentioned have suspended him from all team activities, but it’s the offseason. Other than a potential draft event, what is Morant going to actually miss?
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski believes a heavy suspension to begin next season will come down on Morant from the league office.
“I think Ja Morant is facing a lengthy, a significant suspension to start next season if indeed that was a firearm in his hand in that video,” said Wojnarowski. “I don’t think Adam Silver is going to take this one lightly.”
For context, in the 2009-10 season then-Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas was suspended for 50 games by then-commissioner David Stern for bringing unloaded guns into the team locker room to settle a dispute with teammate Javaris Crittenton.
Silver has generally been lighter on punishment than Stern, but in this instance he will have to drop the hammer. Morant isn’t giving him any choice.
Aside from the money Morant could lose, the young Grizzlies star is playing with his life in these situations. Guns are no joke, and America leads the world in deaths attributed to gun violence.
As one of the faces of the league, Morant cannot engage in this type of behavior without consequences.
A lengthy suspension with the financial penalties that ensue is a start. Morant should not be a part of the invite list for Team USA when it opens camp this summer for the FIBA World Cup. Taking away basketball, the thing in theory he loves most, might serve as a wakeup call.
At this rate, it’s the only thing he can lose that will spark change. After all, if he continues down the path he’s on he could lose the one thing he could never get back, his life.
