Grizzlies guard Ja Morant has deactivated his Twitter and Instagram pages following an incident late Friday night that led to his decision to “take some time away” from the team, writes Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
Morant created a firestorm around the NBA when he posted an Instagram Live video (Twitter link) to his personal account around 4:19 a.m., roughly four hours after the end of Friday’s game in Denver. The video, which appeared to show Morant displaying a gun at a strip club, has sparked an investigation by the league.
Cole points out that Morant is typically active on social media and uses both platforms to post personal messages and promote his business interests. Morant recently became Powerade’s first athletic partnership in more than five years and he has a Nike Ja 1 sneaker that’s set to be released in April.
There’s more on the Morant situation:
- Morant finally crossed a line that the Grizzlies couldn’t ignore, observes Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated. Mannix states that the team had been “wishy washy” in its response when Morant was allegedly involved in a confrontation with members of the Pacers’ traveling party in January and when he reportedly punched a teen during a pickup game at his house last July. Mannix adds that the Grizzlies are dealing with Morant like a small-market team that’s afraid of alienating its star.
- Morant needs to take control of the people he surrounds himself with and the places he goes, ABC’s Jalen Rose said on tonight’s “NBA Countdown” (video link). “I’m glad in his statement that he owned that I need to make changes for me,” Rose said, “because as the leader, as the breadwinner, you control the environment. The people that are around you, you select.”
- DeMarcus Cousins, who has been hoping to get signed by an NBA team all season, calls Morant and the Grizzlies an example of what can go wrong without veteran leadership. “Hope this shows the importance of REAL VETS in the locker room,” Cousins tweeted. “No young team should be without multiple veterans on the roster.”
- Nike is standing by Morant amid the controversy, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). The company released a statement that reads, “We appreciate Ja’s accountability and that he is taking the time to get the help he needs. We support his prioritization of his well-being.”
Wonder if a few execs are getting fired from Nike having to deal with Kyrie and then Ja lol
There is a lot of money to be made off of successfully selling radically overpriced merchandise due to endorsements from scumbags. Especially in athletic apparel.
Nike has became a multi-billion dollar company doing that. They understand their target audience.
I buy Puma and Asics clothing along with Brooks and Saucony shoes. Far, far superior materials that are more comfortable and last longer. (Bought a Coleman camper bag for less than 1/2 the price of Nike’s that’s 1/3’rd bigger, made of durable materials; has multiple compartments; and has lasted for over 10 years now looking like the day I bought it.)
Maybe 7-8 years ago I was encouraged to buy a pair of Nike Shoes. 6 months later I would up at the podiatrists with foot problems. Was told the shoes were crap and get something substantial if I was going to be using them to exercise…as opposed to making a fashion statement.
addidas lost a billion dollars doing the right thing after letting kanye go.
The right thing?? LOL smh
Grizzles need Booige to smack the crap out of the kids. Or Rondo
Rondo pulled a gun on his wife last year I think its why nobody gave him a contract!
‘We are too far along in production.’
– Nike
Nike is less than 2 months out promoting the shoe so they are not going to lose 10 of millions by dropping him.
Aw cmon Clarence
Boogie wants to become the world’s most expensive babysitter. Pretty self serving comment from him.
Isn’t that guy in Miami?
He needs to do more than just drop the social media accounts. he needs to get different friends and probably older friends who has grown up. His parents also need to take a step back
Lol at Boogie’s self plug
Gonna say something I’ve never said before.. and doubt I’ll ever say again… DeMarcus Cousins is 100% correct… This is also why Udonis Haslem still collects a player’s paycheck FYI.
His words are right, but to use himself as an example is comical. Don’t you think Dillon Brooks already commits enough technicals as it is?
Hopefully Ja takes this time away (and the offseason) to really take a step back and evaluate what he’s doing and who he’s surrounding himself with. Dude is young, skilled, and exciting enough to be one of the faces of the league for the next 10 years and right now he’s on a fast track to finding himself in a bad situation if he keeps this up. I said this in another article from earlier this year, but it’s like all the fame and exposure he got from ascending into NBA stardom last season went into his (and the Grizzlies/his teammates) heads thinking they can get away with whatever because Ja was the next big thing.
If Ja Morant was truly taking this seriously he would have taken to social media and responded in his own words. Not a statement written by his agency.
This is serious stuff. It goes far beyond basketball. Ja is getting into trouble with guns because he has chosen to affiliate himself within a gang. He is on social media flashing gang signs and guns. When minor action was taken by Memphis after the laser pointer from gun incident …. He went on social media and mocked it.
The gang problem we have in this country is why so many black males get shot and killed. We continue to let high-profile athletes like Ja Morant glorify the lifestyle, and encourage the cycle to continue.
The NBA needs to quit being silent about players affiliating with gangs.
Anyone ever see the movie No Country for Old Men?
is that the sequel to blue chips?
Ja keep it up and you’ll be the next idiot athlete to throw away a career and millions of dollars
Now it’s been established that the strip club he went to was in Denver which confirms the fact that he or one of his entourage brought a gun on a plane