Memphis Grizzlies star Ja Morant is back in the news for a reason that many folks can’t seem to wrap their heads around.
For the second time this year, Morant was seen flashing an apparent gun during a live stream on Instagram, and as a result, he’s currently suspended from all team activities.
Former No. 1 overall draft pick Kwame Brown seems extremely frustrated with Morant. The retired NBA player recently let his feelings be known about the decisions the 23-year-old is making, and he didn’t hold back at all.
Nah kwame brown went off on Ja Morant 😭😭😭😭😭
“I’ve heard of NBA Youngboy but you NBA Dumb boy bc you got to be the stupidest mf in the league” pic.twitter.com/MrbogC9knh
— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) May 15, 2023
“I’ve heard of NBA YoungBoy, but you NBA dumb boy,” he said. “You got to be the dumbest motherf—– in the league. You got $231 million promised to you, and you wanna be a f—— thug? Yeah, it’s okay for you to have a gun. You have a right. You have a Second Amendment right to have a gun. But what the f— do you keep pulling it out, menacing for?”
Brown also suggested that Morant needs to take a look at the friends in his circle. The 41-year-old isn’t the first person to express that view, as some folks feel that the company Morant keeps could be contributing to his pattern of mistakes.
A one-time All-NBA selection, Morant might end up receiving a “significant” suspension.
Ja Morant is expected to receive a ‘significant suspension’ if that was indeed a firearm in that video, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/I2uJjbSgPG
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 15, 2023
Morant and Brown were both high lottery picks. Morant was the No. 2 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, and Brown was the first player off the board in the 2001 NBA Draft.
Brown’s career didn’t pan out the way it was supposed to, but Morant’s play has been nothing short of spectacular since he entered the league. That could be one reason why Brown is so frustrated with Morant’s off-court decision-making.
The former NBA journeyman knows firsthand that success at the NBA level is hard to come by, yet Morant constantly seems to put his career in harm’s way.
After Memphis’ 2022-23 season ended, Morant spoke openly about wanting to improve his decision-making outside of basketball.
“I just got to be better with my decision-making,” Morant said. “Off-the-court issues affected us as an organization.”
Unfortunately, those words seem empty right now, and it’s going to take the former Rookie of the Year a long time to rebuild his reputation.
Morant has already made two All-Star games in four NBA seasons. Over his last couple of seasons, he has approached superstar territory, averaging 26.8 points, 7.4 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game.
The Grizzlies cornerstone has a very bright future ahead of him if he wants it, but there’s no doubt that he has work to do in order to get his career back on track.
