Grizzlies’ Yes ​​Morant is not a victim

On Wednesday, after meeting with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, Memphis Grizzlies point guard Yes Morant was suspended for eight games by the league for league-damaging behavior.

in one In a press release, the NBA concluded that the gun Morant showed on an IG Live March 4 belonged to an acquaintance. and therefore could not prove that he wore it on crew aircraft or facilities.

Here’s the kicker. When Morant returns from his stay at a Florida treatment facility, his suspension will likely be over as the league accounts for the missed time. As of Wednesday, Morant was already missing five games since being suspended for two games by the Grizzlies before retiring voluntarily after the video was released on March 4. It wouldn’t be entirely surprising if he returned after his eighth game away, a home game, against the Dallas Mavericks.

Yes Morant is not a victim

Despite Morant’s attempts to seek treatment for his “unhealthy reactions to stress,” he’s not a victim. The gun he used to prance around a strip club during an IG Live was simply the last straw in an escalating series of events for Morant.

Morant allegedly hit a teenager after a pick-up basketball game and is said to have threatened him with lightning bolts a bell. (Morant told police he hit the boy in self-defense, and his agent said in a statement that Morant didn’t have a gun during the event in question.)

He also reportedly rolled to a high school volleyball game with his crew to take on another teenage girl who talked his gossip little sister. (No charges have been filed).

After a home game against the Indiana Pacers on Jan. 29 Player and Team Safety reported a slow-moving SVU with Morant-trained red lasers from cannons atop them as it passed. A security guard for the Pacers team told The Athletic, “This is 100 percent a gun.”

“We felt in great danger,” said a person present at the outlet.

The incident was serious enough for the NBA to investigate.

Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Ja Morant’s journey from an obscure mid-major starter to one of the NBA’s standout point guards has been a meteoric rise. However, during this rise, it was never registered that the newfound fame brought with it a higher level of control, standards of behavior and decency.

If anything, the NBA just let Morant get away with it.