Ja Morant has been sweeping the headlines after he was fined by the NBA for his controversial three-point celebration. In a game against the Miami Heat a couple of weeks ago, Morant imitated shooting a gun after burying a bucket and was promptly fined $75k. That didn’t deter him, though, as he has a new celebration, and this one involves a genade. After burying a three, Morant imitates tossing a grenade into the crowd and runs back on defense while covering his ears.
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While the NBA hasn’t fined him for this yet, Shannon Sharpe and Ochocinco feel it’s only a matter of time before the former #2 pick finds himself in trouble again. On Nightcap, they discussed the need for an older presence around Ja, preferably one that could rein in his wilder side.
The Grizzlies must’ve felt the same, too, as they brought in both Derrick Rose and Marcus Smart over the years to seemingly calm down their franchise player. Both players didn’t seem to have the intended effect, however, and were shipped out later; Rose was released and retired, and Smart was shipped to basketball purgatory, often known as the Washington Wizards.
Unc and Chad discussed the dire need of having a mentoring presence around Ja, and they could agree on one name: Allen Iverson. While Kenyon Martin suggested that his issues could be linked to his circle outside the NBA, Ocho suggested that AI would be the perfect mentor, largely because he was also a divisive figure during his playing days.
“I think somebody has to be an elder statesman, that’s part of the NBA, that conducted themselves somewhat in a similar manner that Ja looks up to, now maybe they can get through to him, get him to understand,” Ocho said. “I say, I would say AI.”
That suggestion was shot down by Martin, however, and he instead claimed Zach Randolh could be “the OG’ that Ja needs to help him out in this situation. Randolph was a Grizzlies legend during his playing days, and according to Sharpe, a few harsh words from Z-Bo would do wonders for Ja.
“He needs an OG, the real OG, in the streets of Memphis. Y’all go to Ja and tell him to cut this bull-jibe out.”
K-Mart also added that Ja’s celebrations with pretend firearms, while fun to witness, could end up being an issue for his off-court life, as there are people who may not take lightly to his actions.
