The NBA will most likely look to make an example out of Ja Morant. The Memphis Grizzlies star has been immature and reckless, constantly being spotted with firearms on social media.
Not even a first suspension and spending some time away from the team receiving counseling were enough for Morant to at least be more careful with his shenanigans on social media.
He could be looking at a 40+ game suspension. And while Morant’s recent history of erratic behavior, drinking, threats, and guns is more than worrisome, former NBA player JJ Redick believes people are just being hypocritical about the whole situation.
JJ Redick Rants About Ja Morant’s Potential Suspension
“Again, we can go back to the bad story of the incident of the teenager. Ja claimed self-defense; the teenager threw the ball to his face,” Redick started. “We can go to the incident at the mall where he yelled at a security guard— As far as we know, all of these incidents have been investigated, and no law has been broken.”
“I’m not condoning the behavior; I’m not saying there should be no punishment; there should be,” Redick continued. “You are the face of the league; you are representing the NBA, you are a role model to young kids, all of that. I don’t think half the season is the right answer.”
“And the last point I wanna make. If you bring this up, the gun on social media, you talk about consequences. In our country right now, gun culture is pervasive,” Redick said. “We have mass shooting after mass shooting, and nobody’s doing a damn thing about it. So I get why we’re so sensitive to this right now. But there’s no consequence for Greg Abbott [governor of Texas], telling his constituents to go buy more guns. And then we have mass shooting after mass shooting in Texas.”
“There are no consequences for elected Tenessee official to send out a Christmas card holding AR-15s with his young family. And then there’s a shooting in his very district. There’s no consequences to that. So why are we trying to lay down the hammer on a 23-year-old who didn’t break a law? Explain that to me,“ Redick concluded.
JJ Redick got heated on First Take this morning “WHY ARE WE TRYING TO LAY DOWN THE HAMMER ON A 23-YEAR-OLD WHO DIDN’T BREAK A LAW? EXPLAIN THAT TO ME !” (h/t @awfulannouncing )
Ja didn’t break any law, and he does have a right to own a gun; those points are fair. But two wrongs don’t make a right, and the NBA has the power to do something about what they can control.
They cannot control politics, they cannot control how polititians handle themselves. But what they can do is look to make an impact through their stars and role models.
The issue isn’t that Ja owns a gun. It’s not that he’s been involved in multiple physical altercations — with a teenager and a security guard who couldn’t even beat up an NBA player, not with actual thugs — it isn’t even that he blatantly lied and wasted his team’s and teammates’ time with that counseling.
see also
Ja Morant and NBA players suspended because of guns
Ja signed up for this. Being a superstar comes with responsibilities; you can’t have without the other. You either follow those guidelines or can kiss your sponsors goodbye; it’s actually not that hard to understand.
