'NBA on TNT' crew takes stance against second Morant gun video
Grizzlies star Ja Morant’s latest controversial Instagram video featuring a gun has generated plenty of conversation in the sports media world. Pundits find themselves on different sides on how seriously Morant should be punished this time by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, noting Morant technically didn’t break any law in the video but also noting this is his second time being caught in a little over two months after being suspended for eight games for getting caught with a gun at a Colorado strip club in March. The NBA on TNT crew voiced their evident stance before the tip-off of Wednesday’s Heat-Celtics Game 1 matchup.
Kenny Smith made the point blame can’t keep going to Morant’s friends, saying, “It gets to a point it's not your friends, it’s you.”
“Or maybe you're the friend that they shouldn't be around because you have the access, the power, and the money,” said Smith ahead of Game 1. “And Ja Morant is just at a point in his in his life where he has to make a decision. Am I going to be holding myself accountable to a higher standard?”
Charles Barkley then called the people defending Morant “some idiots” and some “j**kass*s” before he noted there are “certain rules and relegations” you have to follow as a face of the NBA.
“When you're making a hundred million dollars a year to play sports, your life changes. There are certain rules and regulations you have to live by, plain and simple,” Barkey said. “You can't do stupid stuff. That's the tradeoff.”
Shaquille O'Neal echoed his castmates’ thoughts, saying Morant “made the choice” to recklessly handle a gun again in another live video after being suspended previously, also noting the bigger picture of the situation.
“He saw the camera in his face. He made the choice, not thinking,” said O’Neal. “He has to understand there's written laws and unwritten laws. … You're in a billion dollar corporation now... And not only that, you got kids looking up to you brother.”
Silver said Tuesday night before the NBA Draft Lottery he was “shocked” after seeing the second gun video and that the league is investigating the situation. Morant got off relatively easy after numerous instances of being in the news for the wrong reasons the past couple of months, entering a rehab facility for a brief stint before he served his eight-game suspension. But a lengthy suspension of sorts is sure to follow this time around.
