The six-foot-two, two-time NBA All-Star, Ja Morant came into the NBA with promising talent and was certainly scheduled to reach a level of great success.
However, something in the middle of his journey led him into murky waters in his professional career.
However, Morant has now been associated with court filings and police reports and has also become the target of repeated NBA suspensions.
Morant made two appearances in social media videos this year, one in May and the other in March, both times brandishing a weapon (a gun). After the second incident, the league punished him for 25 games instead of the original eight.
A Grizzlies team source attributes some of Ja Morant's behavior over the last 18 months to Tee Morant
"Tee has been a major driving force in all of this. He never made the NBA, but this was his chance to live like he's an NBA superstar. That's been a problem from the beginning."… pic.twitter.com/VljPNOyXnv
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 18, 2023
According to Baxter Holmes and Tim MacMahon of ESPN, the Memphis Grizzlies trusted sources, scouts, and company executives who routinely engage with him certainly saw a difference in him. During his first few NBA seasons, Morant had no problems off the court and was a great player on the floor.
A seasoned NBA scout shares, as per ESPN, "Zero. He was the consummate coachable teammate, a choirboy. Underrecruited. Didn"t have many scholarship offers. Played with a chip on his shoulder. Glowing stuff. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing."
Another veteran NBA scout said, "I studied him inside and out. There was not one person who had a bad thing to say about him. Very much a late bloomer. Good family. Had a work ethic. Humble. He checked every single box."
The 24-year-old NBA star was selected by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2019 NBA Draft. Morant was the first-round second-overall pick.
While establishing himself early in the court, and it would surely count the act as moving towards success. Morant shared, "It"s just my edge,"
“The chip I have on my shoulder from what I had to go through to get to the NBA. My dad always told me that I was trained to go, basically that I"m built for the moment. And my mom always told me I"m beneath no one."
A long-standing Memphis business owner whose facilities were regularly visited by both Morant and his father also shared, "They were very humble and respectful people,"
“They would never overstep the boundaries. Easy to talk to. The customers enjoyed them. It started like that."
During the 2021-2022 NBA season, Morant was named the NBA"s Most Improved Player. He was also accompanied by his family separately wherever the team went, and Morant was not able to maintain the same discipline he did in the initial phases of his prominent time. According to a Memphis Grizzlies source, "There was no discipline,"
“They felt like they could do anything they wanted. In my opinion, the enabling was out of control. Just constant. Definitely s— was swept under the rug."
However, Morant was spectacular on the court, propelling the Memphis Grizzlies nearly to victory by himself. In February last year, Ja Morant achieved another feat by becoming the second Memphis Grizzlies player to be selected as an NBA All-Star starter. It was also his debut as an All-Star player.
Morant agreed to the largest contract in the history of the team—a five-year, $194 million agreement. This feat came to him five months later. During the turbulent times, Morant off-court incidents took a definite toll on his on-court and bright career.
"My son didn’t get in trouble cause of people around him. He got in trouble because of his decisions."
Tee Morant speaks to the attendees at the Up Next Elite Camp in New Orleans. One of the topics the kids asked about today was how to handle when people are talking about you. pic.twitter.com/DNtfLfmzBy
— RELMYERS.COM (@relmyers) August 19, 2023
Morant’s father, Tee Morant, expresses the reason why his son got into trouble.
He was in the news, which was certainly highlighted as he showed a weapon in a video and regarding the gun incident, NBA commissioner Adam Silver also expressed, "Ja"s conduct was irresponsible, reckless and potentially very dangerous,"
Morant also expressed, in response to the accusations he faced and in light of his tumultuous behaviour, "I just … I don"t have an alcohol problem, never had an alcohol problem,"
“I went [to the Florida facility] for counseling, to learn how to manage stress, cope with stress in a positive way, instead of ways I"ve tried to deal with it before that caused me to make mistakes."
A team source also pointed to Ja Morant’s father, Tee Morant for his off-court escapades, "Tee has been a major driving force in all of this,"
“He never made the NBA, but this was his chance to live like he"s an NBA superstar. That"s been a problem from the beginning."
After the second gun incident, Morant was in a much deeper problem, as his repetitive destructive behaviour was now drawing more and more eyes toward him and everyone associated with him. Morant also released a statement which said, "To the kids who look up to me, I"m sorry for failing you as a role model,"
“I promise I"m going to be better. To all of my sponsors, I"m going to be a better representation of our brands. And to all of my fans, I"m going to make it up to you, I promise."
The general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies, Zach Kleiman, came forward and said, "At this point, it doesn"t matter until he follows through,"
“I couldn"t care less about words. Ja has to prove it."
Morant is also representing Nike, as the brand signed him in 2019. Morant now also has his own shoe line with the brand.
