Ja Morant has been making all the wrong headlines over the last week in the NBA. The All-Star’s latest hijinks included waving a pistol on Instagram Live following a loss to the Denver Nuggets. Now, with all this controversy swirling around the point guard of the Memphis Grizzlies, Skip Bayless went as far as to ask a very uncomfortable question on Undisputed.
Earlier today, Bayless questioned whether or not Ja Morant may be involved in gang-related activity based on his recent behavior. This hunch of his grew over the weekend considering that, based on Morant’s other actions, it might suggest that the recent events might be a better indicator of who he is rather than the superstar basketball player we’ve all come to know.
“I’ve called around the league to people I’ve known forever talking about Ja Morant. Because I was so shocked about the IG Live, how brazen it was…(And) they’re asking me are you sure he’s not that?,” asked Skip Bayless. “Like that’s just who he is, that he is about that life? Remember, he’s thrown up the crips sign several times.”
What does that mean? Does he want to associate with (them)? Or he got initiated? Or he just has a dream of being one? I don’t know. I’m just throwing this out,” Bayless continued. “Are we missing the boat here that that’s just who (Ja Morant) has been from the start?”
Again, these are uncomfortable questions that Ja Morant has raised about his character based on this recent string of conduct. However, he can hopefully put it all to rest based on how he works on himself during his suspension and time away from the court.
Ja Morant in Hot Water with NBA After Apparently Brandishing Gun
Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant just can’t stay out of trouble. This week, he’s found himself in yet another mess of a situation due to posts made on his social media accounts after he displayed a gun on his Instagram account while in a nightclub. He deleted the post, but plenty of folks saw it and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported the incident for his millions of NBA fan followers to see. Here was that tweet:
“Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant was seen on his own Instagram live displaying a gun while at a nightclub early Saturday morning,” wrote Woj. He also added the following statement from the NBA’s Executive Vice President of Communications Mike Bass:
“We are aware of a social media post involving Ja Morant and are investigating.”
Of course, this is not Morant’s first rodeo with social media controversy. During last year’s NBA playoffs, he tweeted a threatening message in reply to a fan who had talked trash about him. In the response, he wrote , “it’s free to see how hollows feel.”
He deleted that post as well, but it still went viral as thousands of his followers had already seen the message.