The latest gun-related incident involving Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant could adversely affect the reputations of the rest of the NBA’s players, opined Tim MacMahon of ESPN during a recent episode of The Basketball Illuminati Podcast.
“I’m curious what stance [the players association] might take,” MacMahon said. “I’ve talked to agents of other superstar players and they’re pissed off too. Because this is not just a bad look for Ja Morant. This is not just a bad look for the Memphis Grizzlies. This reflects poorly on the entire league… Other teams are livid about this and other agents are livid about this because they feel it reflects poorly on everybody.
“I’m talking to an agent of another superstar and he’s like ‘Man, this really taints the image of the whole league,'” MacMahon continued. “‘I’ve got my clients who are doing everything right, who are never sniffing any kind of trouble. Positive members of their community.’ So on and so forth, but then the perception is going to be ‘Look at this fool who thinks playing with guns on Instagram Live is cool.”’
There’s more out of Memphis:
- Morant’s recent regression has frustrated and disappointed several figures around the league, but the opinion of NBA commissioner Adam Silver is more important than anyone else, writes Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Morant met with Silver to discuss the gravity of his previous suspension-inducing behavior with a gun in March. Giannotto believes that, given Silver’s comments about the latest actions of Morant, the commissioner will be considerably less lenient than he was in doling a punishment last time.
- Until this season, Morant had been one of the NBA’s leading luminaries. Accordingly, he had his own line of Nike shoes in the pipeline. Now, the Nike app has stopped listing his Hunger Ja 1 sneakers ahead of their scheduled May 25 release, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
- After Morant’s prior eight-game suspension this season, Jemele Hill of The Atlantic believes a considerably lengthier one in 2023/24 could potentially help the Grizzlies guard appreciate what he stands to give up should he continue this kind of behavior.
He obviously cannot handle the persona of being an NBA star…..when REAL gang people start criticizing your actions….wake up….apologize and be a MAN and accept your lengthy punishment and quietly move on. The “big man” with a gun in your hand might be fashionable in his world, but in real life….. it is pathetic and unacceptable
Who are these “REAL” gang people you speak of?…
That stupid ass “I’m tough I have a gun mentality” a lot of idiots in prison for life
He’s a loser gonna be out of the league in a year
The fact is, the only reason other players pissed off at him, is cause he is better than those players. This a classic case of “tear down those better than me to make myself look better.” Just like how other commenters here try to do to me.
Man, you have the absolute worst takes I’ve ever read.
Thanks for proving my point.
Your commitment to posting the same dumb comments over and over again is admirable.
Yeah, he’s almost getting too boring to make fun of.
At least Ja knows when he’s broke, irrelevant and out of the league, he’ll probably be able to crash on Kurtis’ couch for a few months. Lol.
Kurtis you blow lol …..
This ain’t about you. The NBA is big business. And it’s still growing globally. Morant is an adult. Who’s made his choices. And he will pay the price for that. NBA doesn’t need him.
Is your argument that the other players framed him? Or that it’s perfectly fine to wave around a gun in a nightclub? Or that doing so isn’t remarkably stupid after he just got caught doing the same thing just weeks ago? Go ahead, make your case, we’ll wait.
Well in the state of CO, an open carry state, having a gun in an establishment is permitted under the permission of the owner. Now, I suppose it is possible that the owner didn’t know, but considering its been plastered all over every news or social media website, the owner probably knew. And since the owner pressed no charges against Ja, anyone with common sense would understand the owner had non-issue with it. So, yes, in that instance it was perfectly fine waving around a gun in that particular nightclub, per the owner.
Brandishing In Colorado
Brandishment as a crime requires bringing the weapon to a ready state with the intent to threaten or intimidate. Brandishing a weapon is “pulling it out and waving it around.” So, yes in every instance it is illegal to wave a gun around anywhere in Colorado.
Unfortunately “pulling it out and waving it around.” is pure opinion based. Like what do you mean “pulling it out and waving it around?” And what are you “pulling out and waving around?” Hmmmmm…..Joe Mazzulla, is that you?
Well, since I used the words “weapon” and “gun” we all know what “it” is. He obviously pulled the gun out as it didn’t just magically appear in his hand and you yourself said “So, yes, in that instance it was perfectly fine waving around a gun” in reference to Ja Morant.
That’s cool you want to play narratives. Let’s play facts.
Fact 1: police found no illegal actions
Fact 2: owner pressed no charges.
Fact 3: NBA found no violations
It’s cool you got opinions. But I got facts. Try again!
Why are you defending this B.S.? Ja is potentially throwing away 100s of millions of dollars. Why? So he can prove he’s a hard a$$ on IG? We all know you’re just a troll because you know and I know that it doesn’t matter what you think or I think. It only matters what the NBA thinks. If you really cared about this kid’s future you wouldn’t be coming out in support of this behavior. I like Ja and I sincerely hope he pulls his head out his a$$ and figures things out before he f—ks up the opportunity he has laid out in front of him.
He pulled it out and waived it around on video… we all saw it… WTF are you talking about dude
Also there are city ordinances in DEN against guns in clubs irrespective of the state law…
Waving a gun around in a night club is not legal. That’s not what open carry means.
Any business can ban guns on premises, so can schools, churches. So many open carry states dont let you open carry anywhere you want.
Hey blowhard, if the NBA found no violations would you mind explaining how he was suspended?
Strip club not night…
We dont know which players criticized him, but we do know there are a couple dozen at least that are better than him homer…
Ja plays defense like a 90 year old man.
Jas defense is like a slug trying to catch a tennis ball.
Jas defense is so bad he makes Luka look good, while Luka is on the wrong side of the court arguing with the ref…
Oh and his outside shot is s*** if he isnt wide open feet set…
But yeah couldnt possibly be a player honestly upset with his behavior and how it reflects on the league they for sure are just jealous haters who wish they could play such poor defense and still get a max…. Although its about 40M lite of where it should have been if he wasnt a hood rat try hard gangster!
A couple dozen? I would love to see the 24 players that are better than Ja Morant. Please list…..
Steph, Bron, Taytum, J Brown, AD, Jaren Jackson *ohhhhhhhh no he didnt*, Embiid, Joker, Wemby, Luka, ill take Bane too over Ja, Jimmy f***ing Butler, Zion when healthy, KI when not insane and playing, Garland is a push, D Mitchell, Giannis of course, Jrue, Draymond, Fox, Haliburton, Lamello is like the same player but with more height, Lavine, KD, Book, Kawhi, PG, I could go on…
That enough or do you need more? Every one of those players is better when you take in that NBA isnt all offense. The list doubles when you consider contracts since players like Cade are still super cheap comparatively. The list triples if you consider trade value since there are like 75 player most teams would deal for before the headache and behavior problems Ja brings.
He makes some highlights but will he even be able to by his mid to late 20s with how dependent he is on athleticism, and how most severe basketball injuries occur on the exact type of play he does exclusively? High flyers get hurt period.
Kurtis, please get your hand out of Ja Morant’s pocket. Also, I suspect his idiot friends are trying to take him down posting these videos that they know are going to screw him over out of a ton of money. He should definitely find a new crew of friends.
Why would his friends be trying to take money from him? He is their life line? Its not like his friend made any money off of this last incident. It was on IG live, TMZ got the video for free like everyone else. Hell, even the first video was Ja himself going on IG live to show off the heater someone handed him.
This “his friends gotta go” narrative is such a cop out. Ja has to be better, its that simple
Not a fact
“Fax”-Kurtis Blow
I’d imagine they are upset that he is fulfilling the stereotype many of them have had to deal with their whole life.
Suspend him for the yr. Grizzlies obviously couldn’t help him or control him. It’s a shame to bring yourself down. With self inflicted troubles. It’s even worse when you take people down with you. Grow up
Anywhere from 30-50 games suspension would suffice ……. though, thinking about this a bit more – suspending Morant for a whole season, will send the strongest signal possible that the NBA will have zero tolerance for such stupidity, moving forward.
This is a much larger problem than the entire dress code was for Stern…
Maybe the NBA and players union could come together and agree on a suspension and fines that would top the $40m he has already lost through being a fool…
Just imagine if Ja had taken a knee
or had a real gun. you see the size of that thing. pea-shooter.
Regardless i don’t condone violence against any vegetable. I especially think we should give peas a chance.
LOLLLLL. BRAVO!!!!
Suspend him for after the all star break through the beginning of the following year
It’s really the team’s fault. They told Ja to work on his shooting…
How was he supposed to know what they meant??
For all the Ja apologists ——- try searching
get informed…. Y’all as bad as Ja.
The NBA has a strict anti-gun policy; players are required to notify teams if they own a gun, and they are forbidden from possessing guns in various circumstances.
The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement says players can own or possess guns, but they have to report them to their team at the start of each season and can’t have them at league-related facilities.
Interesting. according to this, it doesn’t sound like the NBA has a strict anti-gun policy. A strict anti-gun policy would essentially negate a players ability to own a firearm.
However, I’m interested in which of those policies you mentioned JA violated? Did he fail to report his firearm ownership to his team? When he was driving with a firearm in his possession, was he on league related facility grounds? Was he in possession of a firearm somewhere that violated the CBA? Presumably being in a nightclub with a firearm would be in some sort of violation, but the specifics of the circumstances are relevant to this judgement.
I also didn’t read any comments posted here that aligned with being a JA apologist. We can debate specific issues, circumstances, as well as opinions, without siding with JA. Frankly, it’s clear what JA did is childish, but it’s also clear that this is someone who needs help.
He promoted violence by promoting gun culture…
You can’t promote violence…
It’s worse than promoting a dangerous drug for the image of a global corporation…
Gun culture is not violence. Yes, he promoted gun culture, but there wasn’t any violent acts or gestures (that I’m aware of). Thus, he didn’t promote violence. They are not the same thing.
Guns are designed for violence… They have no other design purpose…
There is no separation…
It’s like saying cocaine isn’t bad for your health because it rarely isn’t…