Ja Morant has his name in headlines again for the wrong reasons, and, yes, a gun is involved. The 23-year-old star point guard showed off another gun on Instagram Live, but this time it was courtesy of his friend’s Instagram account.
It resulted in Morant being suspended by the Grizzlies from all team activities and a pending league investigation.
This latest incident came two months after he was suspended for eight games from the Denver strip club incident, which he showed a gun on his own Instagram Live.
Former NBA player Kwame Brown, ESPN reporter Stephen A. Smith, NFL legend Shannon Sharpe, and plenty of others have come out yet again to criticize the young superstar. Now rapper and Los Angeles area crip gang member Bricc Baby has some advice to give.
Street Validation
Bricc Baby did an interview with Cam Capone News and gave Morant some words that he shouldn’t ignore.
“You throwing those N’s up, that’s gonna cost you anyway. … What you want to do? To pay the Crips for the rest of your life? Because that’s gonna cost you,” Bricc Baby said to Cam Capone News.
He was referring to some of Morant’s on-court antics with his celebrations. Morant is often spotted on the court allegedly throwing up gang signs and dancing after he makes a good basketball play during the course of a game. He has also been criticized for his music choices and quoting lyrics from what seem to be his favorite rapper, NBA Youngboy.
“Let’s be real, because, like … like, start being real with yourself. You a basketball player. OK, you want to step into this field, we can show you a whole lot about this s***,” said Bricc Baby.
He continued, “Matter of fact, set up a meeting for me and Ja Morant, since he want to be a Crip. I bet you he don’t never show up, and it’s on some friendly s***.”
Then, he gave Morant an uplifting message.
“I don’t got no beef with you, Ja. I just, you like the face of like the NBA. You like the new face of the NBA and you with this,” said Bricc Baby. “You claim you were part of the culture, man. Be the positive side of the culture like you’ve been being. You don’t got no felonies, you ain’t grow up f****** s*** up and all that. You might have smoked some weed or whatever the case is, but come pull up on me.”
Keyshawn’s Advice
Morant has put himself in avoidable situations over the past year, and many have assumed that he is doing it because of thug image he is attempting to portray, like Bricc Baby.
Former NFL star wide receiver Keyshawn Johnson discussed on his show “Keyshawn, JWill & Max” the attention Morant has been drawing from other notable Crip gang members in the L.A. area.
“A notable gang member of a certain very powerful gang here in L.A. didn’t like the fact that Ja was doing those things in some of his games, along with portraying himself, to a degree, as some sort of hip-hop street gangster growing up in the hood when he hasn’t,” said Johnson.
He continued, “Those are the sort of things that I worry about, because you’re aligning yourself in a position that you know nothing about at all whatsoever, zero about. That’s where I look at the team and the league and to be able to say, ‘You’ve got to get him the necessary help that he needs, serious help.’”
Morant averaged 26.2 points per game and 8.1 assists per game in 61 games this season. The Grizzlies secured the No. 2 seed but were bounced out of the first round by the Lakers in six games. His $194 million max contract is set to kick in this season. He lost out on $39 million in future earnings after he was not voted onto an All-NBA team this season. He still has endorsement deals with Nike and Powerade, but had a recent ad pulled by the sports drink company.
Hopefully, Morant really learns his lesson this time and stays away from posting guns on the internet.
