The day after Ja Morant made a historic return after serving a 25-game suspension, his father – Tee Morant – made an appearance on SiriusXM NBA Radio. While speaking to the hosts, a majority of Tee’s conversation revolved around the antics that his son pulled off earlier in the year. According to the father of the Memphis Grizzlies superstar, the latter did indeed commit a crime.
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Ja is a public figure. His actions tend to have an impact on the youngsters that look up to him. Hence, by brandishing his firearm, Morant could be leaving a harmful impression on kids who are very easily influenced. Even though the All-Star didn’t legally do anything wrong, Tee has expressed his disappointment as his son committed a “crime to humanity”.
“I’ll be a father and the devil’s advocate right now. Like I said, you don’t put him on a guillotine if he didn’t commit a crime. I tell my son you made a crime to humanity because so many kids look up to you. You don’t want to be the one where they say ‘we did this because Ja did this’,” Tee said.
When asked about the type of behavior that Ja should exhibit to be the face of the league, Tee had a very surprising answer. He simply stated that the “face of the league” was an opinion that people label others with. His son’s only job was to win games and ultimately lift the championship trophy for the Grizzlies. tee also claimed that “faces of the league” in the past have done much worse than his son.
“My son’s job is to try to win championships for the Memphis Grizzlies. Face of the league – that comes from other people’s opinions. First of all. Second of all, it was a lot of faces of the league that did things way worse than my son. So why is he under the guillotine again?”
“My son’s job is to try to win championships for the Memphis Grizzlies. Face of the league – that comes from other people’s opinions”
Tee Morant tells @termineradio and @jumpshot8 that Ja’s goals are to be a role model for kids and to win games pic.twitter.com/bNel0GsYKU
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) December 21, 2023
Brandishing firearms is an action that deserves consequences, whether it’s a star player who does it or not. In Morant’s case, he had already received an eight-game suspension last season for carrying a gun in a nightclub. So, waving the firearm on an Instagram Live video was always going to be serious enough to be slapped with a 25-game suspension.
Ja Morant made a historic return
Tee Morant has spoken about his son’s actions before as well. Earlier in the summer, while speaking to a few youngsters at the “Up Next Elite Camp”, Tee held Ja responsible for his actions.
“My son didn’t get in trouble for people around him — he got in trouble for his decisions,” Morant said. “So always be mindful of every decision y’all make, because it can pretty much take over you and consume you and make you think that you’re who you’re not,” Tee exclaimed.
“My son didn’t get in trouble [because] of the people around him. He got in trouble because of his decisions.”
Tee Morant spoke to kids at the ‘Up Next Elite Camp’ about his son Ja Morant when asked how to handle opinions from others.
(via @relmyers)pic.twitter.com/EzZBK71mFR
— Ball Don’t Lie (@Balldontlie) August 19, 2023
Ja Morant made his highly-anticipate return on Tuesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans. The entire basketball community is very well aware of the fact that the shifty guard is a lethal force. However, nobody could’ve predicted the performance that he put up.
In an action-packed thriller, Ja Morant led the Grizzlies to erase a 24-point deficit. Hitting the game-winner, the 2020 Rookie of the Year finished the night with an impressive stat line of 34 points, 6 rebounds, and 8 assists.
