Ja Morant Notes: League, Silver, Nike, Suspension

The latest gun-related incident involving Grizzlies All-Star point guard Ja Morant could adversely affect the reputations of the rest of the NBA’s players, opined Tim MacMahon of ESPN during a recent episode of The Basketball Illuminati Podcast.

“I’m curious what stance [the players association] might take,” MacMahon said. “I’ve talked to agents of other superstar players and they’re pissed off too. Because this is not just a bad look for Ja Morant. This is not just a bad look for the Memphis Grizzlies. This reflects poorly on the entire league… Other teams are livid about this and other agents are livid about this because they feel it reflects poorly on everybody.

“I’m talking to an agent of another superstar and he’s like ‘Man, this really taints the image of the whole league,'” MacMahon continued. “‘I’ve got my clients who are doing everything right, who are never sniffing any kind of trouble. Positive members of their community.’ So on and so forth, but then the perception is going to be ‘Look at this fool who thinks playing with guns on Instagram Live is cool.”’

There’s more out of Memphis:

  • Morant’s recent regression has frustrated and disappointed several figures around the league, but the opinion of NBA commissioner Adam Silver is more important than anyone else, writes Mark Giannotto of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. Morant met with Silver to discuss the gravity of his previous suspension-inducing behavior with a gun in March. Giannotto believes that, given Silver’s comments about the latest actions of Morant, the commissioner will be considerably less lenient than he was in doling a punishment last time.
  • Until this season, Morant had been one of the NBA’s leading luminaries. Accordingly, he had his own line of Nike shoes in the pipeline. Now, the Nike app has stopped listing his Hunger Ja 1 sneakers ahead of their scheduled May 25 release, per Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal.
  • After Morant’s prior eight-game suspension this season, Jemele Hill of The Atlantic believes a considerably lengthier one in 2023/24 could potentially help the Grizzlies guard appreciate what he stands to give up should he continue this kind of behavior.
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