The latest WWE Smackdown event in Memphis paved the way for an unanticipated combination of wrestling and basketball. Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, openly dissed the gun controversy of the city’s NBA superstar Ja Morant. It led to the latter publicly expressing his shock as he seemed to be confused with the intentions of the celebrity.
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In the recent turn of events, the Rock captivated the Tennessee crowd by singing on the stage. The 51-year-old utilized the attention in his favor to express his thoughts on Morant’s controversial activity. He declared, “You are simply an embarrassment son. Just like Ja Morant when he is waving a gun. I love you, Ja”.
The endeavor made the headlines before expectedly catching the attention of Morant. Soon after that, he responded to it by expressing his feelings on X (formerly Twitter). The Memphis Grizzlies star posted the infamous 50 Cent GIF of “What he say f**k me for?” to candidly reveal his surprise.
The entire situation circled Morant’s gun controversy dating back to 4th March 2023. The 24-year-old intentionally waved his gun around at a Colorado strip club before facing an 8-game suspension from the NBA. He failed to learn his lesson from the instance as a similar incident occurred on 14th May 2023, resulting in him missing out on the first 25 games of the campaign.
As per Business Insider, the first suspension cost the player about $700,000 in salary with the second one amounting to nearly $7.6 million. On top of that, Nike had to delay their plans for the shoe launch due to this series of controversies last year. Undoubtedly, it tarnished the public reputation of the 2x All-Star raising question marks over his ethics.
Hence, the WWE attempted to link their message with something closer to the hearts of the people of the city. At the same time, Morant also embraced the entire exchange sportingly without displaying any sign of frustration. In the end, the moment marked a memorable instance in the journey of both parties, as their fans evidently rejoiced the occasion.
