“Ja Morant Should Be Suspended 25 Games”: Charles Barkley’s Unforgiving ‘Punishment’ For Nike Athlete’s Gun Controversy

Charles Barkley claimed Ja Morant deserved a 25-game suspension. The Memphis Grizzlies star was caught showing off a gun on Instagram for the second time in 2 months. The initial incident saw him suspended for 8 games, after which Morant claimed to have undergone counseling and rehabilitation. Barkley said that Morant needed to grow up, and the NBA needed to set an example during an appearance in TNT’s The Steam Room. Barkley claimed the Nike star should be given a serious punishment.

The global sneaker giants are not dropping Morant, with the recent release of Ja 1 going as planned. Considering this was only one of the recent slew of incidents that Ja Morant has been criticized for, Barkley believes that he deserves a 25-game suspension.

Charles Barkley calls for Ja Morant to be suspended for 25 games

Ja Morant recently posted a series of cryptic posts on Instagram. The post featured multiple pictures with captions that referenced his family, including his daughter Kaari Morant.

Regardless, considering it is the 2^nd similar incident when Morant was caught showing off a handgun, Barkley believes the 23-year-old needs to grow up. The former Houston Rockets star claimed that Morant deserves a 25-game suspension:

”I think it will be at least 20-25 games. I don’t have any inside information about it. 25 games. You got to send him a serious message, and you got to send him to serious counseling. They said he went to rehab and counseling. And three days later, he was in New York. So, I think he needs to get serious counseling.”

Apart from the two Instagram videos in which he flaunted handguns, Morant has also been involved in other incidents of late. This includes threatening a mall security guard, beating up a teenager, and threatening assault on Twitter. A break from social media would clearly benefit Ja Morant.

Morant will not be dropped by Nike over gun controversy

Nike recently confirmed that they had no plans to drop the Grizzlies’ star over the gun controversy. The global giants have recently dropped the Ja 1 and released a statement in support of the player.

The Ja 1 was set to be released worldwide on May 25th. However, the recent controversy appears to have made their availability scarce, leading to speculation of whether Nike was about to drop the Grizzlies’ star.

The global giants had meted the same treatment to Kyrie Irving due to his anti-semitism controversy. However, Ja 1 has been released as planned and multiple other versions of the shoes are expected to drop in the coming time.

So we can clear up the Nike stuff….

The Nike Ja 1 Hunger is scheduled to drop tomorrow morning at 9am on the Nike SNKRS App https://t.co/JseOxtMu9T pic.twitter.com/6GJdWcthUY

— Jon Roser (@Jon_Roser) May 24, 2023

Hence, while Morant’s recent controversies have surely impacted his career, there is no permanent damage done as of yet. The NBA might end up suspending him for a larger stretch of games. However, with the right discipline, the Grizzlies’ star can be back dominating the NBA in no time.