Gilbert Arenas believes that Ja Morant’s abilities are the only way to turn around a stuttering Memphis Grizzlies campaign. He trusts in his abilities to carry this team to the playoffs, despite them having 19 losses and six wins. The Grizzlies are currently 13th in the West and are in the middle of a five-game losing streak. On Tuesday, after serving a 25-game suspension because of gun-toting videos, Morant is on track to return against the New Orleans Pelicans. On his show, Gil’s Arena, Arenas advised the high-scoring athlete to believe in himself as he returns.
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He also mentioned that if the Grizzlies want to make the postseason, they’d have to first convince themselves. And if Morant indeed carries him there, his already impressive stock will rise further. Arenas proclaimed,
“If Ja gets them to the playoffs, he is on God mode.”
The Gil’Arena crew co-signed this sentiment and believe that even if he reaches the 10th seed for the Play-in picture, that does it for them. However, everyone showed skepticism about the Grizzlies which have not even lodged a 25% win thus far, wondering if the team would prefer not to make the Playoffs and get a chance at a lottery pick.
Arenas added, “Look at your team without him, that means you don’t have the talent that you thought you did”.
Meanwhile, for Arenas, Morant’s story hits close to home. The two share a mutual experience of having a troubled gun history in the league. In 2010, Arenas was suspended indefinitely because he pulled up a gun against now-convicted Javaris Crittenton.
Therefore, he has dealt with the depression and anxiety stemming from such issues. However, the Morant controversy has now been drained by even bigger scandals.
NBA is dealing with a lot of off-court troubles this season
The NBA has been hammered with some unwanted attention lately. Oklahoma City Thunder’s All-Around Guard Josh Giddey has been in hot waters ever since videos showing him with a minor girl came out. He allegedly kept a relationship with an underage girl for more than two years.
Apart from that, IG model Dream Paige revealed that Anthony Edwards forced her to get an abortion and then asked for the video evidence. She alleged that he refused to pay her the promised sum of $100,000.
But for Morant, he has paid the heavy price already. During the build-up to his return, he disclosed, “Horrible days. It was tough.” These horrible days came in place after his second gun-flashing offense.
He committed the first offense in March when, in an Instagram Live, he flashed a gun in a Denver nightclub. Morant was suspended for eight games. But then he again showed off his gun once during an IG Live while in a vehicle with his friends.
Due to the first offense, he lost $668,559 for being suspended for eight games. During his second suspension, he conceded $7.6 million. Much more than that, his public image was dented and he missed out on a significant chunk of hooping action. However, now it’s time for him to move on and show what he is capable of on the court.
