Ja Morant is an NBA player, a punk, and possibly a psychopath. His employer, the Memphis Grizzlies, are cowardly enablers.
In the wee hours of Saturday morning, Morant posted an Instagram video of himself in a Denver strip club flashing a gun. Predictably, it went viral.
Morant is what you might call a “flashy player.” The Instagram gun flash came just days after a police report alleged he’d flashed a gun at a teenager he beat up during a pickup basketball game over the summer. Last year, after a “confrontation” with some members of the Indiana Pacers organization, someone in a car Morant was riding in flashed a laser at the Pacers team bus. The laser may or may not have been attached to a gun.
After the video exploded, the NBA said it was investigating the incident. But the Grizzlies came down on Morant in a flash. He was suspended for at least two whole games.
In fairness, according to FNC, the Grizzlies say there is “no timetable” for Morant’s return. But it sure sounds like he’ll be lacing up his sneakers as soon as the heat on the team becomes bearable. During a Sunday press conference, Grizzlies Head Coach Taylor Jenkins put on his best disappointed first grade teacher face and said that Morant has made "difficult decisions and poor choices."
With respect, Coach, drawing a wang on the white board when Teacher’s busy is a poor decision. Waving your Glock around a nudie bar at 2 a.m. is of a different order of magnitude.
Jenkins wasn’t done with the Principal’s Office talk: "He’s definitely embracing the mistakes that he’s made but only time will tell. We’re going to support him and we’re going to hold him accountable to make those changes."
Those changes?
“Ja, did you threaten anyone with a gun last night?”
“No, Coach.”
“Okay, keep up those changes.”
The kumbaya continued: “We love him, we want what’s best for him, we support him. It’s going to be a difficult process but we’ve got a great group to get through this.”
None of this was lost on Morant. After apologizing to "family, teammates, coaches, fans, partners, the city of Memphis and the entire Grizzlies organization for letting you down. I'm going to take some time away to get help and work on learning better methods of dealing with stress and my overall well-being."
Got that, Ja Morant is taking time out to look after Ja Morant. [sigh] Self-care is so important! In the meantime, Jenkins said they were in "an ongoing healing process."
You know what else is a healing process, Coach? Recovering from bullet wounds.
