Ja Morant poses with a gun in a nightclub, and the basketball player himself sends the pictures to his millions of followers. The NBA is now announcing its suspension, the Memphis Grizzlies professional is looking for professional help. Because it is important to prevent worse.
Yes Morant is one of the greatest basketball talents in the world. He is the face of the new American NBA generation that will one day succeed LeBron James and Steph Curry. Morant has made big advertising deals with Powerade and Nike and extended them to the Memphis Grizzlies for $200 million. Morant is one of the top scorers in the league (27.1 points), a one-man highlight show, at just 1.88 meters tall he delivers spectacular dunks on the assembly line. Morant is a crowd favorite and his shirt is one of the best-selling in the league. Morant, one would think, has made it, the world is his oyster. He’s 23, on one of the best teams in the league, second in the west with his Memphis Grizzlies. What is the cost of the world?
Well, Yes Morant is unfortunately also: currently the biggest scandal machine in the NBA and thus something like the inglorious successor to lateral thinker professional Kyrie Irving. A young man who apparently does not have his personal problems under control and who is repeatedly associated with explosive events. All of a sudden, the steep career of the high flyer paused. According to the US broadcaster ESPN, he is currently not with the team and has started therapy to reconsider his behavior. The police stopped investigating the latest pistol scandal, but the league continues to investigate. He got off lightly with an eight-game ban and can rejoin the Grizzlies in a few days. Still, Morant’s career threatens to falter. But one after anonther.
There are currently four incidents that are intensively preoccupying the sports and media world. Last summer, Morant allegedly beat up a 17-year-old at a streetball game at his Tennessee estate. As the “Washington Post” reported in early March, the basketball star is said to have shown his gun demonstratively and threatened the 17-year-old boy with it. Morant denied this but defended his beating: the teenager is said to have thrown a ball at his head.
A red laser from a weapon pointing at an opponent?
In the course of this publication, the newspaper reports on another incident in the summer. Morant’s mother got into an argument at a mall in Memphis. After a call, Morant showed up with an entourage of nine, raised the alarm and apparently started a verbal argument with mall security. He is also said to have refused to obey the police’s instructions and to leave the parking lot. A man from the group is said to have physically attacked a security guard.
Even more explosive are the following two incidents, which again have a weapon at the center. The portal “The Athletic” reported in February on a shocking event after an NBA game between the Grizzlies and the Indiana Pacers. In the game at the end of January, Pacers players had started a verbal exchange of blows with Morant’s father and a friend of the NBA star, and Morant himself also got involved. As “The Athletic” reports, Pacers team members are said to have been harassed later in the parking lot in front of the Arena. Shortly thereafter, some Pacers members spotted a red laser suspected to be from a gun. According to the accusation, this red laser came from an SUV in which Morant was also sitting. The NBA star also denied all allegations here.
The current trigger for Morant’s forced break is his momentous trip to a strip club during an away trip to the Denver Nuggets. After the March 4 game, he rented a VIP room at Shotgun Willie’s nightclub. Recently published photos show the floor full of dollar bills. Curious, but nothing more, true to the motto “If you have, you can.” Far more problematic: Morant went live with his Instagram account, rapped to a song – and wildly waved a gun. Mind you, shortly after the allegations that the “Washington Post” published about the incidents in the summer. In a previous game, he had formed a pistol with his hands, celebrating a shot that way. According to the NBA professional, that didn’t necessarily look like it.
Morant needs to become more professional off the field
The recordings went viral that night and in the morning, no wonder, his account has around nine million followers. The next scandal was inevitable. Local authorities initially determined whether anyone had been threatened with a weapon, but then dropped the investigation. The NBA also examined the events, the Grizzlies suspended him, then the league announced their sentence: eight games suspension. Morant had long since apologized to the team, the fans and the city of Memphis. He temporarily deactivated his accounts on Instagram and Twitter. “I’m going to take some time off and try to learn ways to better deal with stress.”
Then silence followed. As the TV broadcaster ESPN reports, he is starting therapy these days. He is looking for help in Florida, it said. When he will return to the Grizzlies is unclear, although the NBA has now paved the way for a return. The Morant scandal is a sensitive matter for the team. Morant draws crowds, is the club’s most important and best-known player, with the play-offs just around the corner. It is not known whether Memphis is planning to play Morant in the championship round. After all, the Grizzlies have three wins in the past three games and are still second in the West Conference. However, forward Brandon Clarke has recently been seriously injured and is missing for a long time with a torn Achilles tendon. The chances of a deep run in the playoffs are dwindling should Morant also miss beyond the league-imposed timeout.
But there may be a lot more at stake for the 23-year-old than just a few playoff series. The weapons scandal could be a turning point for the guard. If he manages to make his off-court behavior professional, he will continue to be considered the next big star and face of the NBA. His path so far is amazing. He made it from underdog to star. After high school there were no offers from the larger colleges, but with his strong performances at Murray State he still made it into the NBA, as the 2nd pick in the 2019 draft. In the first year he was named “Rookie of the Year”, and has since improved he himself year after year. The team success too.
Memories of Allen Iverson
Otherwise, however, he torpedoes his own career and also puts the league and advertising partners under pressure. There have already been first consequences. Powerade, owned by the Coca-Cola Company, withdrew a campaign with Morant. Nike wanted to launch his own signature shoe in the coming weeks. The group welcomed Morant’s decision to seek help. The shoe manufacturer has not yet announced any more on the subject.
The comparisons to Allen Iverson come to mind. The also relatively small player (officially 1.83 meters, actually a few centimeters less) developed into the absolute megastar of the NBA in the late 90s and early 2000s, bringing hip-hop vibes to the league. One who inspired on the field with his explosive style of play and off the field with his clothes, style, hairstyle and tattoos and changed the league.
Now not only the size and parts of the style of play are reminiscent of Iverson, but also (unfortunately) the behavior off the pitch. Iverson was notorious for going after big entourage games. So right. With alcohol and everything that supposedly goes with it. Means: long evenings, short nights, poor regeneration. The 76ers star often slept until noon, he didn’t take training seriously in an almost legendary way (“We’re talking about practice”), and repeatedly made flimsy excuses.
He can fill headlines much more easily
He also caused a stir with an irritating weapons incident. In 2002, he threw his then-wife Tawanna out of the house, then manically went looking for her in Philadelphia with a gun in his belt. The police investigated, arrested him, and later he was acquitted for lack of evidence. Although Iverson remained an NBA superstar, his body took revenge on him late in his playing days.
When athletics couldn’t keep up, he was walking nostalgia. An old star, but who has long ceased to dominate. He later disappointed the high expectations of the Detroit Pistons and the Memphis Grizzlies. By the end of his career, Iverson was broke and beset with personal problems. Even if Morant is still a long way from such a career end point, it should be a cautionary tale for him.
In the USA there are voices that say that Morant wants to show his way of thick pants, “Hood” and gangsters, even though he’s not that at all. He overcompensates, so to speak. To what extent there are some sparks of truth here, only Morant himself knows. One thing is clear: he needs help, he’s going to get it now. And really everyone – family, friends, fans, league, teams, business partners and himself – should keep their fingers crossed that he comes back purified and reconsiders his behavior. His game is so outstanding that it alone can make the headlines every day.