It's been another tough week for Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant, who has been disciplined yet again for flashing a gun on his Instagram, and after cryptic social media posts prompted a welfare check from police, former NBA star Gilbert Arenas shared even more advice for the disgruntled 23-year-old.
“Even though it's not going to be taken because he's 23 and on top of the world, the advice is understand your surroundings, put people around you who have the same interests, and that interest is protecting your brand,” Arenas said on The Old Man and The Three podcast with JJ Redick and Tommy Alter this week.
“Even if it's not your interest, make it theirs. So you need people around you that's willing to tell you no, that's willing to, ‘Hey, you've taken too many shots, put it down,' ‘it's 1:00 in the club, we have to leave,' you need people around you that's willing to be your conscience.”
“At the age you are, just being realistic, 23, went to school two years, all the money in the world, the face of this, the face of that, you're more like in your mind, God-like, right?” the 41-year-old continued.
“With that being said, you need people around you that can think like a real human, and that's going to protect you until you're old enough to really start thinking.”
Arenas then referenced LeBron James, who has the same circle around him now as he did when he first entered the league and was around the same age as Morant.
“They understood the role, they understood the vision, they understood the finish line. He needs to find people around him that understands the same thing.”
It looks like Ja Morant is taking a break from social media after the cryptic post and a subsequent welfare check by police, and he should probably heed these wise words from Gilbert Arenas as well.