Morant has to grow up right now or else his NBA career is in jeopardy. Ja Morant has been suspended by the Memphis Grizzlies for at least the next two games after he posed with a handgun in a social media video, just a few days after he was also accused of intimidating a teenager as well.
It seems like Ja Morant is still torn between two very different, conflicting worlds…and his next choice will determine if he becomes an all-time Grizzlies great or, yet another “what-could-have-been” case.
Only a few days ago, Ja Morant was accused in a Washington Post article of not only threating some 17-year-old kid with a “holstered” (it was in his waistband) gun last summer over a dispute that resulted from a pickup basketball game, but he and his entourage also supposedly threatened a mall security guard in a parking lot.
Not a great look for a player that not only is one of the wealthiest, talented, and most revered guards in all of the NBA, but also grew up in a stable, healthy, and seemingly great household.
For those who don’t know, Ja Morant’s parents are Jaime Morant and Tee Morant, who are both successful college athletes, and he grew up in Sumter, South Carolina, a suburb of the state’s capital city Columbia, for most of his life. Not the crime-exposed life one would expect with said behavior.
Simply put, to be displaying the characteristics and behavioral norms of kids/teenagers who usual grow up in “more difficult” or challenging environments as a person who appears (I’m not entirely sure as of this moment) to have grown up away from said developmental hinderances shows a desire to be accepted or welcomed by the individuals who conform and succumb to said conditions.
Or, in less technical terms, Ja Morant appears to be portraying something he’s not. And that’s a gangster.
But the story doesn’t end there as immediately after the Grizzlies lost 113-97 to the Denver Nuggets last night, Morant, who was for some reason shirtless, went on IG Live and was rapping and singing alongside some rap lyrics at a Memphis nightclub. That’s not too out of the ordinary, right?
Well, he also just so happened to be proudly showcasing a handgun in the video, which is obviously troubling given how frequent he’s been using handguns to intimidate and “impress” those around him.
I’m not sure about the circumstances around Ja’s strange and worrying behavior, but I do know that this will cost him his career faster than he can blink.
Owning and showcasing guns is not inherently bad (well, as long as it’s in a safe location) as millions of Americans also possess a firearm, but to use it as some kind of intimidating status-marker in multiple, uncalled-for instances usually signals the wrong type of associations that a young, wealthy, and extremely influential athletes/individuals can unwittingly get caught up in.
I think you all get my meaning (ex: Aaron Hernandez, Frank Sinatra (allegedly), Tekashi 6ix9ine, Danny Trejo, etc.).
To make things perfectly clear, I’m not saying Morant has any ties to criminal activity or is in/involved with a gang.
In fact, I truly hope he hasn’t enthralled himself with unsavory people in his huge entourage as he’s one of the very best players in the NBA. However, with all of these allegations and conflicts recently popping up with him, it would appear someone (or a group of people) is leading him down a dark, disturbing path that will not only cost him his NBA career, but potentially his life.
All I’m saying is that I hope Morant gets the best people around him to get his life and NBA career back on track before it’s too late.
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