Ja Morant Needs Some Help
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While checking sports stories on the internet the other day I came across a Ja Morant video. Now, all of you know about the incident that happened earlier this season. He had a gun, flashed it on Instagram Live and was suspended. The Grizzlies stumbled from there. They finished the year with a whimper and they lost in six games to the Lakers in round 1. After the season Ja Morant gave an interview. During this interview he said that he was a distraction, that his actions hurt the team, that he was going to get help and get better. I believed him. I think a lot of us did. I figured he had learned his lesson and he was going to try as hard as he could to make some changes. He also missed out on nearly 40 million dollars by missing out on making an All NBA team, which his Instagram Live caused.
He clearly hasn't learned his lesson. The video that I saw on Instagram this time was him listening to music with some friends and he appeared to show a gun, yet again. He was dancing and singing along and got caught up in the moment and flashed a gun. It looked like the people he was with, and himself, realized what he was doing and tried to stop it right away. But the damage had been done. The picture had been captured and shared around the world. I saw it on Bleacher Report that afternoon. By the evening it was the headlining story on most sports networks, it was all over social media and it was a total mess. The whole thing had blown up so much that the Grizzlies suspended him indefinitely.
This has got to stop. There needs to be a lesson in all of this. Something has to change and the team, and the NBA, need to come down very hard on him. I don't care if it was a fake gun, some people are positing this as a theory which I don't believe at all. Fake or not, Ja needs to feel this suspension in his pockets and on the floor. I usually do not agree with anything Chandler Parsons says, but I do agree that Morant should be suspended for all of next season. That should be the least of his worries. Not only should he be suspended, there needs to be a heavy, heavy fine. I'd go with a good portion of his salary left unpaid during the suspension. The NBA also needs to look in on his inner circle of friends and see what the hell is going on with them. I do not want to see his dad at any more games. The league and the Grizzlies need to come down extremely hard on him. This cannot keep happening. It is clear that he meant none of what he said at his end of the season interview. He was just saying cliche things and hoping people would forget. That frustrates me so much. He also needs to get the hell off of Instagram. I know getting off all social media is not viable in this day and age, but he needs to have limits on what content he posts. He also needs to have a person control all of that. He also needs to rid himself of weapons. He clearly does not know how to use and store them. I do not like guns, and do not own any. One of the main reasons, they are too powerful and can hurt others very badly. The way Morant is out here brandishing his guns, that is so unsafe. He also needs therapy. He is clearly out here being a poser. He is not this person that he is portraying on social media. He is not a criminal. He is not some gun toting bad guy. He is a good kid making some terrible choices and hanging out with people who do not have his best interest at hand. He needs to fix a whole lot of things, but none of that will happen unless he realizes he has a problem.
I want him to get better. I want him to figure out what is going on mentally. I want him to surround himself with good people. But none of that will happen until he admits he has a problem and gets a proper punishment. The hammer needs to come down and he needs to get help. I hope he does.
Ty
Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing, the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast, and the greatest basketball writer on the internet.