Over the weekend, Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant was suspended from all team activities after he held a gun on his friend Davonte Pack’s Instagram Live stream. Just months earlier, Morant was suspended eight games by the league for holding a gun in another Instagram Live video filmed at a nightclub just outside of Denver.
NBA insiders and commentators are predicting a lengthy suspension coming down from the league, which is currently investigating the matter. The topic has been a point of discussion across sports media since news broke Sunday, including on the ESPN Radio morning program Keshawyn, JWill & Max which welcomed 92.9 ESPN host Geoff Calkins to talk about the reaction in the Memphis area.
“You wake up on a Sunday morning and you see what happened and you wonder if it’s Mother’s Day or Groundhog Day because here we are again,” Calkins said. “Like, really, he did what!? He was with an Instagram Live and a gun, again. The level of recklessness, stupidity; it’s almost impossible to get your mind around.”
Calkins proceeded to mention how carrying a gun without a permit is legal in the state of Tennessee, making the situation more complicated in determining the cause of any discipline being issued to Morant from the league.
As Morant’s first suspension was issued, the suspension was for conduct detrimental to the league, and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver called his behavior “irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous” in a statement. Morant met with Silver, along with National Basketball Players Association Executive Director Tamika Tremaglio and EVP, Head of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars where he “expressed sincere contrition and remorse for his behavior.”
“There are state legislators who send out freaking Christmas cards with their family holding guns,” Calkins said. “When you have that climate here – and honestly that legal backdrop here – he would be disciplined for representing the league in a way that it doesn’t want to be represented, understandably. It is sort of jarring to think of Tennessee legislators sending out Christmas cards of a whole family armed with guns and one fleeting moment with a gun getting you a 30-game suspension. I’ll be interested to see if the union supports Ja in this or pushes back.”
Keyshawn Johnson, one of the co-hosts of ESPN Radio’s morning program, spoke about how Morant’s ostensible depiction of himself is doing him more harm than good.
“A notable gang member of a certain very powerful gang here in LA didn’t like the fact that Ja was doing those things in some of his games, along with portraying himself, to a degree, as some sort of hip-hop street gangster growing up in the hood when he hasn’t,” Johnson said. “Those are the sort of things that I worry about because you’re aligning yourself in a position that you know nothing about at all whatsoever – zero about. That’s where I look at the team and the league and to be able to say, ‘You’ve got to get him the necessary help that he needs; serious help.’”
Johnson stated that he grew up around gangs and gun violence on the streets of Los Angeles and how he and his sisters have been shot before. He knows that people currently in that situation are perturbed with Morant because they would do anything to be in his position with a five-year, $194.3 million contract along with his own signature Nike shoe and other endorsement deals.
“The people around him, they should be ashamed of themselves for even agitating it instead of saying, ‘No, it’s not what we’re going to do. We’re going to go chill; we’re going to be in a safe place,’” Johnson said. “But for whatever reason, he keeps putting himself in this position.”
