After Shaquille O’Neal, Lil Wayne Questions Ja Morant About His Actions : “What’s The Necessity of You Being so Rebellious?”

Akash Murty | 19/05/2023
After Shaquille O'Neal, Lil Wayne questions Ja Morant about his actions : "What's the necessity of you being so rebellious?"

Just a couple of months after first flashing a gun in a club and getting an 8-game suspension, on top of league-wide criticism, Ja Morant was back at it on May 13th with Instagram live, apparently enjoying his time with a friend and a gun. This again brought the Grizzlies All-Star into the limelight. And nobody, from the NBA’s Commissioner Adam Silver to the former players of the game like Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley could understand why Ja keeps doing it. But perhaps more confused than anyone else, is rapper Lil Wayne.

Morant belongs to a good family with his father, Tee Morant, doing well enough as a barber to have a basketball court in their backyard. He did not have to grow up in the streets like many of his fellow players in the NBA. But, for some reason, he is trying too hard to prove otherwise.

On the other side of things, Lil Wayne’s child wasn’t close to as fruitful as Ja’s. So, the rapper simply couldn’t seem to understand why the young millionaire wants to throw it all away, especially for the life Waybe was forced to live. And he said as much during his appearance on the All the Smoke podcast.

Lil Wayne can’t get why Ja Morant is doing this

One of the greatest rappers of all time, Lil Wayne came on All The Smoke podcast recently and talked to Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson about the Ja Morant situation.

What’s the necessity of you [Ja Morant] being so rebellious?” Lil Wayne brought forth his wonder and also answered it through his spectacle.

The $170 million worth artist reminisced about the time when he was a youngster. Wayne also brought up Zion Williamson, who is the #1 pick from Ja’s draft class and is still struggling to get in shape. However, he much like Ja, does not get fazed by the media bugging him all the time for it.

Wayne suggested these young stars believe the 12 friends they hang out with, are their jury, keeping themselves away from all the noise in the media. This is the best possible explanation from a man who has been in a similar situation before becoming what he is today.

Is there still a way out for Ja Morant?

The NBA would not keep tolerating these actions from the 23-year-old. Who knows at some point in the near future he might actually fire the gun. The Grizzlies, who are paying 100s of millions to Ja Morant, are not going to have that stain on themselves either.

To stop him right in his tracks, they have to come up with a hefty fine and suspension for him. They have to make it a point to set it straight for the 2x All-Star. Without him, the NBA can do as well as they currently are. Ja Morant on the other hand, needs the NBA. Both for his current lifestyle and for the good of his family.

Adding to the bad news, Nike went on to remove “The Hunger” Ja 1s from the Nike app which was to release on 25th May.

The last suspension cost Morant $669,000. This time it will cost him millions. After all, brands like Nike and Coca-Cola are figuring out what they should be doing with their troublesome brand ambassador. So, if he doesn’t move to the right track now, there will absolutely be hell to pay.

Post Edited By: Jeet Pukhrambam

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.