Ja Morant has had a tough year. Earlier, the Memphis Grizzlies star fell under serious scrutiny for flashing a firearm during his visit to a nightclub in Denver. Clearly, an eight-game suspension wasn’t enough time for the youngster to reflect on his mistakes. A few weeks later, the point guard was seen waving around a gun on an Instagram Live Video. Adam Silver then admittedly made the right call in slapping the 2020 Rookie of the Year with a much more severe penalty.
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The NBA decided to suspend Ja Morant for the first 25 games of the upcoming 2023-2024 season. Keep in mind, the suspension that will sideline him for almost two months, will also see a $7,600,000 deduction from his salary. Recently, a member of the Grizzlies franchise blamed Ja’s father, Tee Morant, for his misconduct. Just a day later, the two-time All-Star showered his father with love on X (formerly “Twitter”).
Ja Morant shows love to Tee Morant on X
Ja Morant is responsible for his own actions. However, there are a few groups of people who believe that Tee Morant could’ve prevented several mishaps from occurring. The likes of Stephen A. Smith even requested Tee to be slightly more responsible as a father.
Going even further, an anonymous source from the Memphis Grizzlies has blamed the 45-year-old for his son’s turbulent year.
“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.”
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
Immediately after Tee Morant received a lot of flack for his son’s doings, Ja decided to shower his father with some love. Trying to keep his family away from any more controversies, Morant shared a beautiful moment with his dad from this past campaign. As the Grizzlies superstar finished a tough move against the Los Angeles Lakers, Tee was seen dancing in the crowd. Resharing this same clip on his feed, the 24-year-old quoted the tweet:
celebrate what you created pops 💙 love ya OG
celebrate what you created pops 💙 love ya OG https://t.co/9l9JEPwIh4
— Ja Morant (@JaMorant) October 19, 2023
Clearly, Ja doesn’t believe that his father behaving like a superstar has had any consequences on his behavior. Instead, the highflyer is only further asking his father to celebrate the life that both of them trained for.
NBA Twitter blames Ja for his own doings
Ja Morant is not a kid anymore. The 23-year-old shares a brother-like relationship with Tee, but in no way is his father responsible for his acts. NBA Twitter also clapped back at the anonymous source who blamed Tee.
Users like @CJTHEDJAY, @b0y1da_, and @RaptorsGen were among the many who didn’t agree with the Grizzlies team source. Their point was simple – Tee wasn’t the one brandishing the firearm, Ja was.
i want yall to see how this is being STRATEGICALLY done, Ja Morant has stayed out of headlines for MONTHS did what was asked of him, but now for some rzn they are tryna drag a BLACK DAD on a random wednesday for clicks… “ITS ABOUT WHO THEY LIKE”
— CJ ⚡️ (@CJTHEDJAY) October 18, 2023
Ja is a grown man. He can decide right from wrong on his own
— NO SAUCES ENT. (@b0y1da_) October 18, 2023
Tee Morant wasn’t the one going on IG live and toting pistols and listening to youngboy. That was all Ja
— Raps gen⛈️ (@RaptorsGen) October 18, 2023
Yes, Tee has often taken credit for building his son to be the superstar he is today. However, Ja has no one but himself to blame for the $7,600,000 immediate loss that he is going to face.