Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant continues to deal with off-court drama that has severely clouded his future.
Originally suspended during the 2022-23 season for flashing a gun at a camera while at a nightclub in Colorado, Morant now faces much harsher penalties after once again being seen on a live video waiving a firearm around. Morant could very well face a much larger suspension heading into the 2023-24 season, but there are also concerns surrounding the young guard's mental health.
On Tuesday, the Grizzlies All-Star had police arrive at his home for a welfare check after cryptic social media posts from his Instagram account, which were ultimately deleted. Morant reportedly informed the police that he is well and simply taking a break from social media.
Kevin Garnett's advice to Ja Morant
The NBA continues its investigation of Morant's recent gun incident. While there are still a lot of question marks surrounding what will happen, NBA Hall of Famer and former Boston Celtics champion Kevin Garnett recently offered his advice to Morant and the league.
“This is when I think the league needs the big brother, big sister program right here,” Garnett said while talking with former NBA player Tony Allen on Showtime's Ticket & The Truth. “This is what I think the fraternities and sororities are for, real s**t.”
“The league needs the big brother, big sister program.”@KevinGarnett5KG and @aa000G9 give perspective on Ja Morant’s current situation.
NEW episode of Ticket & The Truth with Tony Allen is available now on our YouTube and all major podcast platforms. pic.twitter.com/hsCUe1aR3u
— SHOWTIME Basketball (@shobasketball) May 19, 2023
Garnett's idea of having a mentorship program within the league is not a bad idea whatsoever, especially since there are a ton of veteran players in this league who have gone through different experiences. This is not to say that every player has dealt with what Morant is going through now off-court, but there are older players in this league and even those who have retired who changed their life for the better by having to battle adversity away from the game itself.
“I'm just going to be one-hundred about it, a lot of these kids don't have a script. And what I mean by that is that this is their first time being outside,” Garnett went on to say. “So they don't know what they doing, they just doing whatever the agent is suggesting, whatever they think is clever and you know, you damn near think you're untouchable until you run into situations like this. … Everyone wants to take it back once it's done, you know what I'm saying? And he has the luxury of being able to survive this, but more importantly, I don't think he's thinking about what he is.”
The Celtics legend concluded his thoughts by telling Morant to reach out if he needs anything or to have someone from his camp reach out.
Will Ja Morant be punished by NBA?
Morant's recent incidents are being taken very seriously by the league, which is why many believe he will be suspended for a good chunk of the 2023-24 season. However, if he is not getting the proper help and is not around the right people, then a suspension really doesn't matter.
The most important aspect of everything going on right now is that Morant is mentally healthy and can learn from what has happened. Having a mentorship program like Garnett suggests could really change the outlook for young players entering the league who may run into struggles like the Grizzlies star has.
At this time, the NBA has not given any updates on where they are at in terms of looking over all the information from this incident, but commissioner Adam Silver did give his thoughts on what is going on ahead of last week's NBA Draft Lottery.
“Honestly, I was shocked when I saw this weekend the video,” Silver stated. “We are in the process of investigating it and we will see exactly what happened as best we can, but we are assuming the worst. We will figure out exactly what happened there.”
Named an All-Star the last two seasons, Morant has found a lot of success on the floor through his first four seasons in the NBA. Unfortunately, his future in this league and with the Grizzlies may wind up going down a different path than many imagined due to these multiple gun incidents.
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