Ja Morant recently entered a counseling program after he displayed a weapon on video and was ordered to stay away from his Memphis Grizzlies.
Morant said in a recent statement that he was taking «time to get help and work to learn better methods to deal with stress and my overall well-being.»
He also got into a physical altercation with a teenager over the summer at his house during a drop-in basketball game in which he also displayed a firearm; he claims that he acted in self-defense.
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Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies and Patrick Beverley #22 of the Minnesota Timberwolves smile during Game 5 of Round 1 on April 26, 2022 at FedExForum in Memphis, Tennessee. (Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)
Nonetheless, Morant’s behavior has been troubling, and a fellow NBA player has ideas where it stems from.
Patrick Beverley, now with the Chicago Bulls, says Morant’s actions stem from parenting and the type of music he listens to.
«He lost his mind. Being a father, being a father,» Beverley told Barstool Sports earlier this week before moving on to Morant’s entourage.
«Fame mixed with success mixed with a lot of money mixed with a lot of freedom in the wrong hands is not a good poster,» Beverley said.
Beverley then jumped into the pop culture aspect:
«I think music has a lot to do with it now. Especially with this culture. Everyone with a gun in the video is fine. You know, shining on your teeth is fine. Pants halfway down your butt, it’s fine. alright. So, that’s alright now. Back in the day, there’d be some motherfucker on the beach in a silk shirt who’d be like, ‘yeah baby, let’s party like we’re in the ’80s.’ silk shirts, and everyone dressed alike.It’s just a product of what we hear.
«The culture now is ‘shoot ‘em, bang bang, bang bang, shoot ‘em, bow down, I’ve got this kind of money, I’m on private planes,’ that’s what the younger generation is. Unfortunately, it should be based on our music, but it’s It’s mostly based on what we hear, and that’s right. Eminem came out, and Eminem was rapping, ‘palms are sweaty, knees are weak, arms are heavy,’ he had a hoodie on ‘Everybody back then had a hoodie on. hood and big jeans. If Eminem had come out like, ‘yeah, I wear pipes, I wear straps, I have 12 guns,’ every white kid in America would have had a f—ing gun on them back then.»
Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies brings the ball up court during the game against the New Orleans Pelicans at FedExForum on December 31, 2022 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Justin Ford/Getty Images)
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Beverley said he would continue to draft Morant, who is averaging more than 27 points per game this season.
In February, the The Indiana Pacers claimed that after an altercation between Morant’s associates and the Pacers, a red laser was pointed at the team from a van carrying Morant, which the Pacers believed was a weapon.
The NBA investigated the incident and found that no «individual threatened others with a weapon.»
Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies reacts during the second quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on February 23, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)
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Memphis is 41-26, good for second place in the Western Conference.