As of now, the Memphis Grizzlies are struggling in the NBA. Without Ja Morant on the court, the team has gone from a consistent contender to a draft lottery hopeful. This is something that Kevin Garnett discussed with Tony Squares on a recent episode of KG Certified. Noting the adversities it caused the Grizzlies, KG labeled it the “Ja effect”.
Advertisement
Garnett commented that every team needs a superstar in order to succeed. And, with Ja out for a considerable amount of time, the Grizzlies have lost out on their status as Playoff hopefuls, let alone Championship hopefuls. That being said, he is sure things will turn around once Morant does make his return. “You are seeing the Ja effect actually in the most reverse way you can see it,” said KG.
The Big Ticket went into detail about Memphis’ struggles. In particular, he pointed out how they haven’t been able to get the best out of Jaren Jackson Jr. This has led to a point, where the Grizzlies have completely fallen off the map, and are no one’s pick to come out of a “scrappy” Western Conference.
Either way, there is still a long way to go in the 2023-2024 season. So, when all is said and done, the outcome of the season may be a lot different for the Grizzlies compared to what people are expecting.
Ja Morant will lose up to $50,000,000 thanks to his gun-slinging activities
The reason behind Ja Morant’s lengthy suspension is the numerous incidents he had over the last season with guns. Several videos popped up of the superstar guard slinging guns around without a care in the world. Whether it was in his car, at a playground, or in a nightclub, he didn’t seem to care.
This led to numerous fines and suspensions. The latest one, is the lengthiest of them all, as he has been suspended for 25 games. But, what’s more, he could lose a lot of money because of this incident. He will lose his pay for the games he is missing and the eight games he missed last season.
Furthermore, Morant is a player who is a perennial All-NBA talent. But, thanks to the suspension, he has missed out on such selections, costing him somewhere around $40,000,000 in bonuses. All this adds up to the whopping $50,000,000 that he is estimated to lose in this time period.
“[Ja Morant] is at least looking at $50M in losses. … It’s as bad of a penalty as we’ve seen in the history of professional sports.”
—@WindhorstESPN pic.twitter.com/dndV7RlK2S
— First Take (@FirstTake) June 16, 2023
It’s safe to say, that Ja Morant needs to improve his attitude if he is to continue being a star NBA player. There is no room for such things in the world of sports, and his ignorance of the same has led to his current situation. Hopefully, he has learned from his mistakes and will continue on the path to becoming the Hall of Fame player everyone knows he can be.
