Ja Morant was suspended for flashing his gun in a nightclub and subsequently posting a live video on Instagram. This led to the NBA taking action and helping him get into therapy. However, it looks like the effects of rehabilitation did not last long, and once again, Ja finds himself in an Instagram live video with a gun in his hand.
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The story goes back to when Morant found himself in a fix while traveling to Denver for an away game. A video surfaced on social media with Ja flashing a gun in a strip club. This incident and the aftermath that followed led to him being suspended for eight games. After an investigation taken up by the NBA, it was concluded that the gun didn’t belong to the Grizzlies superstar. They also gave him a pass on the accusation of carrying a gun to an NBA facility.
Ja apologized for his actions to the public and his teammates. He met with the NBA commissioner and attended therapy sessions to deal with his mental health. The Grizzlies were playing the best basketball of the season before the incident and were considered one of the favorites to win the championship. However, the off-court drama came back to hurt the team as they were eliminated by the seventh-seeded Lakers.
How did Ja Morant overcome the incident in therapy?
Ja Morant had to undergo therapy before being deemed fit to participate in the remaining games of the 2022-23 season. In an interview conducted by ESPN analyst Jalen Rose, Ja Morant gave a sincere account of his thought process and the treatment he received. When Rose asked him about his coping mechanism, here is what he said:
“Just learning that I can open up. I can express my feelings and that it is okay to share my feelings. I was constantly talking to therapist. I have been doing Reiki treatment. I am doing anxiety breathing to help me manage that and release all that stuff from my body.”
The Reiki treatment described by Ja is a healing technique designed to guide the flow of healthy energy through a person by a trained professional. This is done through trained hand movements that eliminate stress and promote healing. Ja described being in a dark space during the incident and needing the correct guidance to help regain his mental balance.
There were multiple incidents during the previous season involving Ja Morant. An incident in the mall involving the safety of his mother, another incident involving the safety of his baby sister during a volleyball game, and an alleged incident after the Indiana Pacers game where a red laser was pointed at an individual. It is safe to say that a lot was going on in his life, and the 23-year-old did not handle the situation with maturity.
How will the fallout from the last suspension affect Ja going forward?
The Grizzlies superstar had to miss eight games in March after the video was leaked. And he was put on temporary leave following a suspension. Some considered the punishment soft compared to the grave nature of his actions. If the league found conclusive evidence regarding the ownership of the gun, Ja could have been suspended for the entire season.
There is a common saying, “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”. The NBA will not look kindly into the recent video of Ja holding a gun on social media. Even if we were to believe that the gun did not belong to Ja Morant, repeating a similar mistake just two months after apologizing to the league is disrespectful.
With the NBA stringent about controlling the player’s behaviors and maintaining the reputation of the league, we can expect them to pass some harsh punishment soon. This time around, Morant will have to do a lot more convincing to bail himself out of the situation.
