With the conference finals in progress and one of the most anticipated NBA Draft lotteries of all time having just concluded, fans should have plenty of basketball to talk about. Unfortunately, plenty of the conversation about the league in the media right now centers on another video of Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant brandishing a gun.
That media conversation was under the spotlight in Detroit on Thursday morning. 97.1 The Ticket’s Stoney and Jansen discussed reactions from ESPN’s JJ Redick and TNT’s Charles Barkley.
Redick questioned why Morant is facing so much criticism when conservative politicians take photos of themselves and their families flaunting firearms. Barkley, on the other hand, said that every NBA player knows what is on the list of things they cannot do while on an NBA contract.
Barkley noted that there are plenty of adventure activities like skydiving or skiing players are explicitly not allowed to do. He added that there are other things, that go unspoken, that players should know to avoid because of the PR implications for themselves and their team.
“There’s a little irony in that,” Jon Jansen said while discussing the comments.
Jansen admits that he is an avid hunter and a gun owner, but to him, the discussion about Ja Morant is not a second ammendment issue.
His question is more about what exactly Morant did wrong. He was in Tennessee, a state that does not require a permit to carry a firearm. The video does not show anyone getting killed or hurt. It is hard to understand what rule or law the Grizzlies star broke that caused so much consternation amongst Charles Barkley and his Inside the NBA castmates.
“Charles Barkley talking about ‘hey, you’re paid all this money and there’s certain things you can’t do.’ Isn’t he the one that said ‘I’m not a role model’?” Jansen asked partner Mike Stone.
